The US and Canada Join Forces to Combat Scams, Seizing Millions in Crypto

Last year, we launched Operation Spincaster, a first-of-its-kind public-private initiative designed to disrupt and prevent scams through coordinated global sprints. Since its inception, we’ve led seven successful operations worldwide, each yielding tangible, meaningful results.

As scams continue to rise in scale and sophistication, government agencies around the world are stepping up their efforts to combat them. We’re proud to play a key role in this global fight. Today, our support is helping law enforcement agencies not only respond more effectively to scams, but also lead their own sprints with confidence.

Over the past six months, we’ve collaborated closely with agencies across North America, including with the Delta Police Department earlier this year. More recently, we collaborated on Project Atlas, led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and Operation Avalanche, spearheaded by the BC Securities Commission. Together, these operations uncovered more than $74 million in combined losses and led to the freezing of tens of millions in illicit funds.

Through advanced blockchain analytics, skilled expertise, and cross-border coordination, Chainalysis is proud to continue strengthening the collective defense against crypto-enabled fraud.

Project Atlas: Preventing $70M in crypto fraud

Led by the OPP’s Cyber-Enabled Fraud Team (CEFT), Project Atlas is a victim-centered initiative focused on identifying and disrupting investment scams. It brought together a robust coalition of national and international law enforcement and private-sector stakeholders, including:

• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
• National Cyber Crime Coordination Centre
• United States Secret Service (USSS)
• Ottawa Police Service
• Sûreté du Québec
• Autorité des marchés financiers
• Ndax, Coinbase and others

Driven from Canada but truly global in scope, Project Atlas identified more than 2,000 crypto wallet addresses linked to fraud victims across 14 countries, including Canada, the US, Australia, Germany, and the UK. This global reach underscores both the borderless nature of cryptocurrency fraud and the international coordination required to combat it effectively.

The results were remarkable: Project Atlas prevented more than $70 million in cryptocurrency from being stolen. Furthermore, Chainalysis and OPP identified victim funds that were later seized through collaboration with the USSS. Working directly with Tether, we enabled the blacklisting of more than $50 million in USDT, preventing scammers from moving or liquidating these stolen assets. 

This decisive action illustrates how collaborative partnerships across the ecosystem — from law enforcement to private sector players — and advanced blockchain analytics can produce powerful, real-world outcomes, and create immediate barriers to criminal money laundering while preserving opportunities for victim fund recovery

Operation Avalanche: Stopping scams on Ethereum

Building on the momentum of Project Atlas, Operation Avalanche was led by the BC Securities Commission to combat scams occurring on the Ethereum blockchain, with an intentional and strategic focus on identifying and assisting Canadian victims.

This operation identified more than $4.3 million in losses tied to Ethereum-based fraud schemes. Chainalysis supported the operation by providing blockchain intelligence, skilled investigation expertise, and strategic guidance.

The operation also involved a wide range of Canadian law enforcement and regulatory partners, including the Ontario Provincial Police, Alberta Securities Commission, L’Autorité des marchés financiers, Ontario Securities Commission, Delta Police Department, Vancouver Police Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The USSS Washington Field Office also participated, as American victims were also identified.

As we’ve seen in previous sprints, crypto scam investigations face unique challenges, blending offline social engineering with complex on-chain transactions across multiple jurisdictions. Underreporting further complicates enforcement efforts, as victims often remain silent about their losses.

However, blockchain’s immutable transaction records provide investigators with unprecedented visibility. With advanced blockchain analytics tools, cryptocurrency activity can be deciphered into clear criminal patterns, enabling law enforcement to identify and disrupt fraud networks that traditional methods cannot touch.

In the Chainalysis Reactor graph below, it is clear that scammers are increasingly complex with their money laundering techniques. However, through blockchain analysis and the right investigative techniques, it is possible to identify the consolidation points which also become opportunities for asset seizures and recovery.

The Chainalysis advantage: From reactive to proactive

Project Atlas and Operation Avalanche represent more than successful enforcement actions — they signal a fundamental shift in how law enforcement approaches crypto crime. With Chainalysis powering their investigations, agencies are moving from reactive case work to proactive threat disruption.

Our blockchain analytics platform enables this transformation through several key capabilities:

• Real-time intelligence: Chainalysis Reactor provides investigators with immediate visibility into cryptocurrency flows, enabling rapid identification of criminal networks and victim funds.
• Cross-chain analysis: Leveraging Chainalysis Data Solutions, investigators can search for known scam fingerprints across multiple blockchains and receive automated alerts on related activity, enabling them to act quickly on future opportunities for fund freezing or seizure.
• Global coordination: Chainalysis works with public and private sector organizations in more than 70 countries — a strong network for empowering intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement actions with unprecedented precision.
• Industry integration: Our partnerships with major cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers enable immediate responses to criminal activity, from account freezes to asset blacklisting.

A new model for scam disruption

Operation Spincaster established the framework for sprint-style scam disruption, and these North American successes demonstrate how this model scales across borders and jurisdictions. We’re proud to empower law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada, and we’re committed to expanding this impact globally.

The future of cryptocurrency crime fighting lies in proactive, coordinated, and analytically-driven approaches. With Chainalysis blockchain intelligence powering law enforcement operations worldwide, we’re building a more secure digital financial ecosystem, one successful operation at a time.

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This material is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Recipients should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with Recipient’s use of this material.

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