US Secret Service describes blockchain as an ‘excellent opportunity’ to track money

Blockchain offers a remarkable capability to trace money flows, officials from the U.S. Secret Service said during a AMA for Reddit users.

Over two hours, agents from the agency’s San Francisco office and the Bay Area regional team, part of REACT, answered questions from participants in the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit and offered guidance on digital-asset security.

The REACT task force was established in 1997 by the California Department of Justice in response to the spread of internet-enabled crime.

In the focus of agents and analysts are illicit actions with cryptocurrencies, including scams such as the “pig-butchering” scam, where the attacker gains the victim’s trust and steals funds.

«We can—and we do—return money to victims. In the last nine months we have done so for 17 people.»

They said the agency has tools to monitor cryptocurrencies that rival the reliability of those used in traditional finance.

One of the problems REACT representatives cited is that victims of digital-asset scams often do not report to law enforcement.

«Each case is unique, but there is no recourse if you do not report it.»

As an example, agents told the story of how they themselves located one of the victims of the “pig-butchering” scheme after a Reddit post and helped recover the funds.

In the first quarter of 2023 alone, the crypto industry lost more than $320 million due to hacks and fraud.