Senators roll out SAFE Crypto Act to crack down on crypto scams

U.S. Senators Jerry Moran and Elissa Slotkin introduced a Strengthening Agency Frameworks for Enforcement of Cryptocurrency (SAFE Crypto) Act to address the growing problem of crypto-related scams. 

According to a statement issued on Monday, the bipartisan bill aims to establish a federal task force that brings together the Treasury, law enforcement, financial regulators, and private sector experts to detect, monitor, and prevent cryptocurrency fraud. Under the bipartisan bill, the task force’s primary goals would be to examine current trends in digital asset scams and identify practical methods to prevent them.

Additionally, the task force is tasked with raising public awareness of typical Bitcoin scams and providing local law enforcement with enhanced investigative tools.

Under the bipartisan bill, the task force would be tasked with investigating patterns in a variety of cryptocurrency-related frauds, such as money laundering activities, Ponzi schemes, rug pulls, fraudulent token sales, and financial grooming scams.

A cryptocurrency lawyer, Gabriel Shapiro, commented that the SAFE Crypto Act may close an enforcement loophole. Shapiro believes the bill will be helpful, citing that the SEC and CFTC are not particularly concerned about issues like phishing, cyberattacks, and small-scale Ponzi schemes.

SAFE Crypto Act strengthens Federal Anti-Fraud coordination

Jerry Moran and Elissa Slotkin noted that the SAFE Crypto Act requires the task force to provide the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees, as well as the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees, with an initial update within one year of its creation. The task force must also submit follow-up reports to those panels on an annual basis.

Sen. Moran mentioned that the SAFE Crypto Act would help combat threats and ensure that all Americans are better protected from bitcoin scams as cryptocurrency becomes more widely used.

Ari Redbord, Vice President and Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, stated that his team has tracked billions of dollars in fraud and scams throughout the cryptocurrency ecosystem over the past two years. He emphasized that real-time interruption is necessary to address the issue of crypto fraud. 

According to Redbord, the law enables public-private partnerships to utilize blockchain intelligence to monitor, disrupt, and dismantle illicit networks as they operate. He noted that combining business and law enforcement can significantly lessen the capacity of criminals to use transformational technologies for malicious purposes.

Crypto investment scams increase, targeting senior investors

The two U.S. Senators introduced the SAFE Crypto Act at a time when more Americans are falling victim to cryptocurrency-related frauds, with senior investors being especially vulnerable.

On April 24, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported Americans lost over $9.3 billion in 2024 as a result of cryptocurrency investment schemes. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) report revealed that the $9.3 billion loss represented a 66% increase over the previous year, which had a loss of $5.3 million.

The FBI said that many crypto frauds don’t rely on breaking into cryptocurrency networks. Instead, they mislead people into giving them their money by using techniques like social engineering, posing as someone else, and gradually building trust over time.

The agency report emphasized that investment fraud, such as pig slaughtering, is the biggest category of cryptocurrency fraud.

Chainalysis’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report revealed that illicit cryptocurrency volume hit $51.3 billion in 2024 as on-chain criminal activity became more varied, confirming the expanding relevance of bitcoin in criminal operations. The report said the centralized services were the “most targeted” in the second and third quarters of last year. Chainalysis also noted that DeFi services accounted for the majority of the stolen funds.

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