FBI's invite-only crypto crime forum quietly reaches its ninth year

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An invite-only crypto crime forum has been held by the FBI for the past nine years, said a repeat attendee.

Now the Virtual Asset Technical Exchange brings police, overseas investigators, and crypto-security firms into one room.

About 50 private-sector vendors get a seat at San Antonio

The Forum was known as the Virtual Currency Symposium, three former attendees said. This year’s iteration took place in September in San Antonio, Texas.

Two of the people said the invitations confine the number of private-sector vendors and partners to about 50, with total attendance in the hundreds. One attendee called it a law enforcement event built for police and their partners.

Networking runs alongside the keynotes, panels, and fireside chats. Companies exhibit their platforms in dedicated rooms.

Token Recovery executive Roman Bieda posted on LinkedIn that the 2024 edition met in Austin, his third time to visit.

Bieda said NFTs had faded from the agenda, while Tornado Cash and a comeback of pig butchering scams were discussed.

TRM Labs confirms it attended, as Chainalysis declines comment

This year, reportedly, blockchain forensics firms Chainalysis and TRM Labs were in attendance. TRM Labs confirmed its attendance. The FBI and Chainalysis declined to comment.

The company confirmed that Predicate co-founder and CEO Nikhil Raghuveera addressed the topics of stablecoin compliance and the GENIUS Act.

The people said representatives from the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Security Alliance, or SEAL, were also present.

Topics included how cartels are using crypto and its role in terrorist financing, cyber-enabled fraud and scams, child sexual abuse material, human trafficking and violent crime, including wrench attacks, a source familiar with the event said.

Other topics included emerging hacks, North Korean activity, and industry and police intelligence sharing.

The FBI created its Virtual Assets Unit in February 2022 to centralize its crypto work, the FBI said at the time. The bureau has had a team working on virtual-asset cases for about a decade, a person said.

Cryptopolitan reported that earlier this month, the FBI seized over $560,000 in crypto destined for Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades.

The FBI joined Japan’s National Police Agency and agencies in Australia and Germany in naming the North Korean group WaterPlum, which they said stole about $10.71 million in crypto.

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