US Seizes $61M in USDT Tied to Pig Butchering Crypto Scam

Prosecutors noted that Tether cooperated in the investigation: “The Department of Justice and HSI acknowledges Tether for its assistance in transferring these assets,” the release states, in the latest example of stablecoin issuers working with authorities to freeze and recover funds flowing through US dollar‑pegged tokens like Tethers USDt.

Crypto fraud scams on the rise

This latest case comes at a time of explosive growth in crypto fraud, including pig butchering schemes that blend romance scams with bogus trading opportunities.

Data from Chainalysis 2026 Crypto Scams report found that crypto scam losses in 2025 reached $17 billion, with artificial intelligence (AI) driven impersonation and social engineering scams increasing by 1,400% year‑on‑year and becoming far more profitable than traditional phishing or giveaway schemes.

In one incident in December 2025, a Bitcoin investor said he lost his retirement savings after being groomed by an online “trader” who used AI‑generated images and a fabricated persona to build trust before convincing him to move his coins into a fake investment platform.

US prosecutors have started to secure major sentences against the perpetrators of these networks.

In February, a key figure in a pig butchering‑linked crypto laundering operation involving over $70 million was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, reflecting how seriously courts are now treating this category of crime.