US DOJ announces seizure of $3.36B in cryptocurrency
TechCrunchMAR 28 2023
This record seizure, and the arrest of Zhong, are indications of the progress being made by US authorities in the fight against cybercrime, particularly in the recovery of illicitly gained cryptocurrency. This case is yet another notch in the belt for IRS Criminal Investigations, which continue to find multi-billion dollar troves of stolen cryptocurrencies and disrupt dark web markets.
Why did it take authorities almost a decade to track down such a large sum of stolen currency? If this money had been hard cash, the FBI would've put significantly more effort into tracking down Zhong and recovering the stolen funds. It's certainly a success that the Bitcoin was finally recovered, but the time that it took to achieve indicates alarming gaps in the FBI's approach to fighting cybercrime.