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the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, in coordination with the U.S. Secret Service's Washington Field Office, announced that investigations into multiple international cyber fraud cases have led to the seizure of over $25 million in cryptocurrency. The funds were allegedly linked to crypto investment scams targeting residents of the United States and Canada.This action is part of the "Scam Center Strike Force," an initiative launched in 2025 by District of Columbia Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. To date, the task force has recovered assets totaling over $800 million. U.S. prosecutors stated that on July 21, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed five civil forfeiture complaints in the U.S. District Court, seeking the forfeiture of over $25 million in crypto assets recovered from various fraud investigations.Investigators indicated that these cases involve multiple money laundering networks with victims worldwide. Criminal groups lured victims into investing through fake crypto investment platforms and online romance scams, then laundered the funds through multi-layered wallet addresses and mixing operations to conceal the source of funds. The seized funds are associated with five major investigations:In one case, Canadian law enforcement provided the U.S. Secret Service with wallet addresses suspected of being used to transfer illicit proceeds. Investigators froze the relevant addresses and traced over 270 suspected victim transactions, involving approximately $10.4 million;The second case involved an online romance scam that defrauded over 200 victims. Illicit funds were transferred through hundreds of intermediate wallet addresses and commingled with funds from other victims, involving approximately $12.08 million;The third case involved a victim from the U.S. capital region who participated in a fraudulent crypto investment project. After failing to withdraw funds, the victim lost contact with the scammers, with the involved amount being approximately $1.23 million;In the fourth case, a victim transferred millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to a fake investment account. Investigators traced some of the funds to six wallet addresses and froze approximately $2.39 million;In the fifth case, scammers impersonated an agency that "recovers stolen funds" to trick victims into paying fees, with the involved amount being approximately $285,000.The U.S. Secret Service stated that these cases remain under active investigation. Law enforcement officials are tracking down the suspects behind the fraud network and will cooperate with international law enforcement agencies to hold them accountable.
Bitcoin financial services company Strike has announced new compliance progress, as its European operating entity Zap (Strike) Europe Limited has received approval from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), obtaining the qualification as a crypto asset service provider under the EU MiCA framework. This authorization grants Strike cross-regional operational capabilities, allowing the company to offer a full range of Bitcoin-related financial services to users across all 27 EU member states under unified regulatory standards. (Businesswire)
Odaily News, Jack Mallers, founder of Strike and CEO of Twenty One Capital, stated that Bitcoin’s drop below $63,000 is not merely a sentiment issue but a reflection of the reality of insufficient liquidity in the global financial system.Mallers believes that while U.S. consumer confidence is at historic lows, the S&P 500 remains at all-time highs, indicating that traditional stock market signals have been distorted by policy intervention. In contrast, Bitcoin, as a 24/7 trading asset, more closely mirrors the true conditions of global liquidity and market stress.He emphasized that during periods of liquidity tightening, investors often "sell what they can, not what they want." Therefore, Bitcoin's decline may not signify a collapse of long-term conviction but rather forced selling under capital pressure.Additionally, Mallers questioned Strategy's perpetual preferred stock financing structure, suggesting it could place the company in a capital structure dilemma when liquidity is needed in the future, forcing trade-offs among different stakeholders.
: Payment giant Mastercard has announced that it has obtained a BitLicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), allowing it to conduct digital asset-related businesses under a strict regulatory framework, including stablecoins and blockchain settlement infrastructure. The license was obtained by Mastercard Transaction Services (U.S.) LLC, marking the company's further expansion into digital payments and on-chain settlement infrastructure. BitLicense is one of the strictest crypto regulatory frameworks in the United States, requiring firms to meet multiple standards for capital reserves, compliance, security, and consumer protection.Mastercard stated that this approval will support its strategic layout in stablecoins and tokenized payments. Company executives pointed out that a clear regulatory framework helps drive digital assets from the experimental stage toward practical applications.Recently, several institutions, including Galaxy Digital and Strike, have also successively obtained BitLicenses, indicating that U.S. regulatory approvals are accelerating the opening up to compliant digital asset enterprises. (CoinDesk)
According to Cointelegraph, after a 15-month investigation, police in New South Wales, Australia, seized 52.3 bitcoins—valued at approximately AUD 5.7 million (about USD 4.1 million)—and arrested two suspects allegedly operating a dark web marketplace in Ingleburn, Sydney. Authorities stated that the seized bitcoins are suspected proceeds from illicit dark web activities linked to drug and weapons trafficking. The operation, conducted by the State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad (Strike Force Andalusia), is regarded as one of the largest dark web-related cryptocurrency seizures ever carried out in Australia. Meanwhile, AUSTRAC has recently intensified its anti-money laundering (AML) oversight of domestic virtual asset service providers and cryptocurrency exchanges.