Key Facts

  • The Justice Department said it has obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion of crypto stolen from Binance.

  • US government and private sector efforts have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the stolen assets so far, the department said.

  • The DOJ also said it seized cloud infrastructure used in a deepfake video-call scheme the FBI calls FaceStealer, which it linked to more than $400 million in thefts.

The Justice Department said it has obtained court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion of crypto stolen from Binance.

US government and private sector efforts have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the stolen assets so far, the department said.

The DOJ also said it seized cloud infrastructure used in a deepfake video-call scheme the FBI calls FaceStealer, which it linked to more than $400 million in thefts.

The US Department of Justice said it has court authorization to seize or restrain more than $1.2 billion worth of crypto stolen in the hack of Binance on or about Oct. 29, as part of efforts that have frozen more than $2.7 billion of the stolen assets so far.

Federal prosecutors and law enforcement worked with virtual asset service providers to interdict the funds, the department said in a Thursday announcement, adding that efforts to trace, freeze, seize and forfeit the stolen assets are ongoing.

Laundering Continues

The DOJ said the stolen assets are still being laundered through crypto bridges, mixers and exchanges. Last week, the FBI, the Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation issued a Cyber Alert urging virtual asset service providers to block transactions with addresses being used to launder the funds, it said.

FaceStealer Takedown

The FBI seized more than 900 webcam videos of victims under a federal warrant, and said the scheme increasingly targets people who maintain open-source software, according to the release.