U.S. restrains $938M in crypto amid Donald Trump’s crackdown on overseas scams
Do Trump's personal crypto endeavors give the crackdown a political twist?
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is stepping up its crackdown on overseas cryptocurrency scam networks that target American investors through fake investment platforms, fraudulent websites, and online impersonation schemes.
During the White House cybercrime roundtable on the 21st of October, Trump said authorities had “frozen nearly $1 billion of cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers and shut down 500+ fraudulent websites.”
Steps taken by the Trump administration
Additionally, as of the 15th of October, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force reported approximately $938.5 million in restrained cryptocurrency. In other words, authorities have taken legal steps to prevent the movement or withdrawal of suspected criminal funds.
However, it’s important to note that restrained funds are not necessarily recovered funds, and the money has not necessarily been returned to victims.
Federal law enforcement has been able to warn over 10,000 Americans targeted for victimization, and we’ve prevented $1.6 billion in losses — at least — this year.
The main target
That said, the crackdown focuses on organized criminal networks, particularly those operating scam compounds across Southeast Asia. These operations often contact victims through social media, dating apps, text messages, and online advertisements before directing them to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms.
To convince customers, platforms display fabricated profits to convince victims to invest more money. Later, when victims attempt to withdraw their funds, scammers demand additional fees or taxes before disappearing. In fact, there were some scam compounds that also used trafficking victims forced to work as online scammers.
One example is the seizure of the domain tickmilleas.com in December 2025. According to prosecutors, scammers allegedly used the website to operate a fake cryptocurrency investment platform linked to a compound in Burma.
Separately, authorities restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency connected to Xinbi Guarantee, a Telegram-based marketplace allegedly providing services such as money laundering and tools for creating fraudulent investment websites. These actions show that enforcement is targeting not only scammers themselves but also the infrastructure and financial services that help them operate.
The controversy that is raising eyebrows
Though the Trump administration is attempting to crack down on such scammer, the same crackdown has also raised questions about political credibility. Reuters reported that Trump and his sons accumulated at least $2.3 billion through their crypto ventures, while investors in those ventures reportedly suffered comparable losses.
In fact, according to AMBCrypto’s recent report, Trump also made $1.4 billion profit from crypto last year.
At the same time, Trump also pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October 2025 after Binance pleaded guilty to anti-money-laundering violations.
All in all, the central contradiction is that the administration is promising stronger protection against crypto-related financial scams while facing scrutiny over its own cryptocurrency interests and decisions.
This comes after the U.S. government signed an executive order creating the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, but hasn’t made any new Bitcoin purchases in 18 months.
Final Summary
- The crackdown focuses on organized criminal networks, particularly those operating scam compounds across Southeast Asia.
- Trump and his sons accumulated at least $2.3 billion through their crypto ventures, while investors in those ventures reportedly suffered comparable losses.
