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Brazilian President Lula has signed Law No. 15,358, which explicitly incorporates seized cryptocurrency assets during law enforcement into the public safety funding system for expenditures such as police equipment, intelligence operations, and personnel training.The law allows for the temporary use of relevant cryptocurrency assets prior to final conviction with court approval. The new regulations also significantly expand the powers of judicial authorities, allowing them to freeze, block, or confiscate cryptocurrency assets during the investigation phase, including restricting access to exchange accounts, digital wallets, and related platforms. Once convicted, the individuals involved will be permanently deprived of the ability to use the formal financial system and cryptocurrency systems. Additionally, the law categorizes the use of encrypted communication tools or privacy technologies to conceal criminal activities as an aggravating circumstance, promotes cross-border asset recovery and intelligence sharing, and establishes a national database to integrate the financial structures of criminal organizations. Analysts believe that this initiative marks Brazil's shift of cryptocurrency assets from potential reserve tools to law enforcement resources, strengthening the crackdown on organized crime (such as PCC and Comando Vermelho) while advancing the judicial system's regulatory and disposal capabilities regarding digital assets.

Digital asset insurance provider Soter Insure announced the launch of Ethereum-denominated slashing insurance. This innovative insurance product was developed in collaboration with Galaxy Digital and provides critical security for Ethereum validators and institutional stakers. It addresses the core risk of slashed assets due to protocol violations by validators in Ethereum staking, with both premiums and claims denominated and settled in ETH. This solves the problem of insufficient coverage in traditional USD-denominated insurance when ETH prices rise, thereby eliminating the "currency mismatch risk."

According to Decrypt, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts have filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize approximately $3.4 million in USDT, alleging it is the proceeds of cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering.Prosecutors state that victims have been approached since the end of 2024 through methods such as "wrong text messages." After establishing relationships via WhatsApp, Telegram, and other platforms, they were guided to invest in an exclusive Ethereum project purportedly backed by physical gold. In practice, victims were instructed to transfer ETH to an intermediary wallet, which was then converted to USDT and transferred to a non-custodial wallet to conceal the source and ownership of the funds.

According to The Block, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston has initiated a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to recover approximately 327,829.720952 USDT. These funds are suspected to have originated from a cryptocurrency scam targeting residents of Massachusetts through a dating app.The investigation reveals that the case began in the fall of 2024. Victims met a suspect who claimed to be "Linda Brown" on the dating app and were lured into participating in so-called "cryptocurrency investments" after weeks of communication. The victims sent funds to wallets controlled by the suspect or their accomplices, only realizing they had been scammed when attempts to withdraw failed. Prosecutors stated that the stolen funds were transferred through multiple wallets and exchanged for USDT, ultimately used for money laundering transactions.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts recently filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to recover 327,829.720952 USDT (approximately $327,000), which is allegedly related to a cryptocurrency scam conducted through a dating app.Prosecutors stated that the investigation began in the fall of 2024 when authorities discovered that a Massachusetts resident was suspected of being involved in a "romance scam." The suspect, using the name "Linda Brown," claimed to have a cryptocurrency investment opportunity after establishing a relationship with the victim for several weeks, leading the victim to transfer funds. Prosecutors claimed that the suspect used "legitimate investment" as a guise to trick the victim into transferring funds to a wallet address controlled by the suspect or an accomplice. The victim only realized the investment was a scam after failing to withdraw funds.Law enforcement noted that the stolen funds were transferred through multiple cryptocurrency wallets, then converted to USDT, and ultimately used for money laundering transactions. At the time of this case, U.S. regulators are intensifying warnings about "romance-related cryptocurrency scams." Previously, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued a reminder titled "Cupid Doesn't Ask for Crypto" ahead of Valentine's Day, warning the public to be cautious of romance investment scams conducted through social media and instant messaging platforms.

According to Kommersant, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law that grants Russian courts new powers to confiscate cryptocurrencies in criminal investigations.The law will amend the Russian Criminal Code to classify cryptocurrencies as a form of intangible property. Elena Ardabyeva, Deputy Minister of Justice of Russia, stated that the law formally incorporates existing digital asset confiscation protocols into the legal framework and provides a legal avenue for cooperation with foreign cryptocurrency exchanges.The law stipulates that requests for the confiscation of cryptocurrencies made by police or prosecutors must include detailed information such as the type of tokens, quantity, and wallet addresses. Experts suggest that the Kremlin may begin to block citizens' access to foreign cryptocurrency exchanges this year.

The founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has seen significant appreciation in his early investments prior to his conviction. He invested $500 million in the AI startup Anthropic, which is now valued at around $70 billion; Solana (SOL) tokens worth $60 million that he purchased at $8 each peaked at $2.1 billion; a $100 million investment in the Sui blockchain development team Mysten Labs has now appreciated to over $800 million; additionally, his 7.5% stake in Robinhood is now worth about $10 billion.If SBF's assets had not been seized by authorities after the collapse of FTX, these early investments could have yielded him over $80 billion. SBF's failure was not due to poor investment judgment, but rather because of the illegal misappropriation of customer funds and violations of financial regulations, ultimately leading to the collapse of his empire.

According to Bitsmedia, the State Duma of Russia has passed a law in its third and final reading that clearly outlines the procedures for the confiscation and freezing of cryptocurrencies in criminal cases.The bill confirms the legal status of cryptocurrencies as property and requires detailed documentation of asset types, quantities, and wallet addresses during confiscation. The bill allows confiscated cryptocurrencies to be transferred to a designated state wallet and authorizes government agencies to cooperate with foreign exchanges to implement confiscation measures. The bill still requires approval from the Federation Council and the president's signature, and will take effect 10 days after its official publication.Previously, the Constitutional Court of Russia had allowed citizens to protect their digital currency rights in court, even if not declared to the tax authorities.

According to market news, Kazakhstan's central bank investment subsidiary "NIC" announced that it will utilize cryptocurrencies confiscated from criminals by law enforcement, along with foreign currency and gold reserves, to expand the newly established national cryptocurrency reserve fund.The company's head, Timur Suleimenov, stated that $350 million worth of foreign exchange and gold has been allocated as initial funding for the fund. The central bank does not plan to directly hold cryptocurrencies at this stage, but will invest through five selected hedge funds and will invest in cryptocurrency venture capital funds. President Tokayev stated at a national financial regulatory agency meeting that the police have closed 130 illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, confiscating assets worth over $5 million, and instructed agencies to develop specific proposals to combat cryptocurrency crime.

According to Cointelegraph, when asked whether the U.S. would seize Bitcoin held by Venezuela, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins did not rule out the possibility.It has been reported that Venezuela holds Bitcoin worth up to $60 billion (approximately 600,000 coins), but several analysts have stated that they cannot verify this data. Atkins responded that what actions the U.S. would take if given the opportunity to seize these Bitcoins "remains to be seen," adding that he himself was not involved in the related decision-making. Previously, the U.S. military, under President Trump's directive, arrested Venezuelan President Maduro and transferred him to New York, where he faces criminal charges.

Brazilian Federal Deputy Chrisóstomo de Moura has proposed a bill aimed at granting courts the power to freeze or confiscate cryptocurrency assets of suspects in cybercrime.The bill allows judges to take preventive measures, either proactively or at the request of prosecutors, when dealing with fraud crimes, including freezing cryptocurrency wallets and traditional financial assets. The deputy stated that these preventive measures would help protect society and provide a strong tool for combating fraud. The bill also proposes the establishment of a "National Fraud Victims Compensation Fund" to provide immediate assistance to victims, addressing the slow process of civil compensation. Additionally, the deputy calls for harsher penalties for cybercriminals, including preventive detention and restrictions on citizens' access to cryptocurrency trading platforms used for criminal activities. The bill is currently under review by the committee, and it is expected to take some time to complete the final analysis.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the Executive Yuan and the Central Bank of Taiwan have agreed to study the use of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve and plan to draft relevant regulations to support Bitcoin, while piloting Bitcoin inventory holdings, initially using confiscated Bitcoin from "waiting auctions" as the source for pilot holdings.

According to Caixin, Singapore's largest money laundering case fugitive Su Binghai had approximately 260 million yuan in assets confiscated in the UK, including nine apartments in London (about 140 million yuan) and dinosaur fossils (about 116 million yuan).The case involves 3 billion Singapore dollars (about 16 billion yuan), and another suspect, Wang Shuiming, has been arrested in Montenegro. Partner Su Weiyi is accused of being the mastermind behind the Hong Kong crypto platform Atom Asset Exchange scam.

ChainCatcher news, db's update states that the U.S. government is seeking to confiscate 127,271 bitcoins (approximately $14 billion), which actually come from the LuBian mining operation run by Chen Zhi, and were stolen back in 2020.These bitcoins have remained idle since then. Unless some sort of impersonation hacking incident occurs, they are unlikely to recover these coins.It is reported that LuBian is a bitcoin mining pool with facilities in China and Iran, and the stolen assets were valued at around $3.5 billion at the time of the incident, now worth over $14 billion. Arkham pointed out that neither LuBian nor the hackers have publicly responded to this matter. Analysts believe that the U.S. recovery efforts may target this long-dormant massive wallet, but if the wallet indeed contains stolen assets, there remains a high degree of uncertainty regarding whether the U.S. can actually control the relevant keys.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. seeks to confiscate 127,271 bitcoins in a certain multinational pig-butchering case, worth $12 billion.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Korean National Tax Service is intensifying its crackdown on tax evasion, warning that cryptocurrency assets stored in cold wallets may also be seized.Officials stated that if there is suspicion that tax evaders are hiding cryptocurrency assets offline, they will conduct home searches and confiscate hard drives and cold wallet devices. Under the National Tax Collection Act, the National Tax Service can request local exchanges to provide account information, freeze accounts, and liquidate assets to offset taxes. While cold wallets can ensure the security of cryptocurrency assets, they may also be used to hide assets, increasing the difficulty of tax administration. As of June, there were nearly 11 million cryptocurrency investors in the country, an increase of nearly 800% compared to 2020; during the same period, trading volume rose from 1 trillion won (approximately 730 million USD) to 6.4 trillion won (approximately 4.7 billion USD). The popularity of cryptocurrencies has led to an increase in tax evasion cases, with the first action in 2021 seizing approximately 50 million USD in cryptocurrency, and over the past four years, 108 million USD has been seized and liquidated.

ChainCatcher news, the Israeli Ministry of Defense has ordered the confiscation of 187 cryptocurrency wallets, accusing them of being used by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).The Israeli National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the confiscation order citing the 2016 Anti-Terrorism Law. Officials stated that these wallets had processed USDT transactions worth $1.5 billion and currently hold about $1.5 million. Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic has integrated the confiscated addresses into its monitoring system but noted that not all wallets are directly controlled by the IRGC; some may belong to cryptocurrency infrastructure serving multiple clients.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit against Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $5 million. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced that these funds are allegedly the ill-gotten gains from multiple SIM swap attacks targeting victims across the United States.The complaint states that these funds trace back to the theft of cryptocurrency wallets belonging to five victims and unauthorized cryptocurrency transfers, which occurred between October 29, 2022, and March 21, 2023.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, Yevgeny Masharov, a member of the Russian Public Chamber and a policymaker, stated that authorities should be granted the power to confiscate cryptocurrencies from illegal or quasi-legal Bitcoin miners. Masharov believes that this proposal will deter "gray" miners by "making illegal mining unprofitable."Masharov noted that many regions face significant pressure on their power grids from illegal miners, and if the proposal is accepted, regions in Russia, "especially those with energy shortages, will breathe a sigh of relief."