⚯ Michel de Cryptadamus ⚯<p>Last week the <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/DOJ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DOJ</span></a>, <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/FBI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FBI</span></a>, and two of the least compliant crypto companies annnounced “the largest seizure ever of money from crypto scam gangs.”</p><p>Which sounds good! But…</p><p>I just figured out that <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/Tether" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Tether</span></a> actually seized all this money… in November 2023, AKA “almost 2 years ago”. They’ve just been sitting on it as like a chip to give to law enforcement.</p><p>Bizarrely the DOJ announcement was trumpeted by Tether, OKX, and Coinbase as evidence of their enthusiastic compliance with law enforcement in this Very Import Seizure.</p><p>FBI publicly described <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/OKX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OKX</span></a>, the Chinese <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/fentanyl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fentanyl</span></a> <br> trafficker’s crypto exchange of choice, as “not compliant with American law enforcement” as recently as like a year ago.</p><p>The whole thing feels like a psy op / press strategy, not an act of law enforcement.</p><p>* DOJ complaint: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/media/1403996/dl?inline" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">justice.gov/usao-dc/media/1403</span><span class="invisible">996/dl?inline</span></a><br>* Blockchain data: <a href="https://dune.com/queries/5347721?sidebar=none" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">dune.com/queries/5347721?sideb</span><span class="invisible">ar=none</span></a><br>* Presser: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/largest-ever-seizure-funds-related-crypto-confidence-scams" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/largest</span><span class="invisible">-ever-seizure-funds-related-crypto-confidence-scams</span></a></p><p><a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/uspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uspol</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/uspolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uspolitics</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/police" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>police</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/crime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>crime</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/cambodia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cambodia</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/fraud" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fraud</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/scams" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>scams</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/pigbutchering" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>pigbutchering</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/lawenforcement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>lawenforcement</span></a> <a href="https://universeodon.com/tags/law" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>law</span></a></p>