USSS Seizures of Cryptocurrency for Forfeiture

Special Agents and Special Deputized Task Force Officers for the United States Secret Service (“USSS”) investigate fraud and money laundering cases involving cryptocurrency or other digital assets.

In many of these cases, USSS will send a letter explaining how to contest the forfeiture by sending a claim within 35 days of the date on the letter to a specific email or physical address that might include the following:

USSSCryptoNotices@usss.dhs.gov; or

Communications Center – AFB

245 Murry Lane S.W.
Building #T-5
Washington, DC 20223

Before you decide whether to file a claim or a petition, contact an experienced civil asset forfeiture attorney focused on crypto seizures at Sammis Law Firm. Call 813-250-0500 or fill out the contact form on the right side of this website.

Why does USSS seize crypto?

If the fraud victim’s funds are put into a crypto wallet, USSS can analyze the cryptocurrency transactions as the funds are transferred through different wallets. The tainted funds might also come from some other type of crime like money laundering or drug trafficking.

USSS has employees called “Cryptocurrency Investigative Analysts” who trace assets and target wallets for seizure on the blockchain(s). When the analyst uses blockchain analysis, the funds might be traced to a cryptocurrency exchange, such as Binance, MEXC Global, or Coinbase.

USSS can request information about User ID Account Number (“UID #”) for that account or wallet within that account from the exchange. The exchange might then provide USSS with the account number or UID #, the user’s name, a copy of their government issued identification (driver’s license or passport), and email address.

Based on the user’s account information, identity documents, and access logs, the law enforcement agent might seek a warrant to seize the cryptocurrency in a particular wallet or account.

The USSS frequently utilizes a pre-seizure “hold.” USSS Agents will contact an exchange or a stablecoin issuer like Tether or Circle, presenting an ongoing investigation to convince them to freeze the wallet entirely. This administrative freeze often locks up high-value portfolios for weeks or months before a formal seizure warrant is even signed by a federal magistrate judge.

The commercial tracing software used by USSS—such as Chainalysis or TRM Labs—regularly relies on automated “clustering” heuristics. These automated tools frequently misinterpret pooled exchange wallets or commingled corporate funds, leading to the illegal freezing of completely clean, unassociated assets held by innocent third parties.

Agents with the USSS might seize the cryptocurrency found in that wrongfully targeted account from Binance or another exchange. USSS will then allege that there exists probable cause to believe that the cryptocurrency seized from the account.

USSS might also cause stable coins like USDT or USDC to be frozen, burnt, or reissued to a government-controlled wallet by convincing Tether or Circle to take that action after obtaining a seizure warrant signed by a magistrate.

Attorney for USSS Forfeiture of Cryptocurrency

If your cryptocurrency account or USDT or other digital asset was seized for forfeiture by USSS, contact an experienced civil asset forfeiture attorney at Sammis Law Firm. Attorney Leslie Sammis helps innocent owners recover their crypto after their account is frozen or their funds are seized.

If the seizure for forfeiture falls under state law, including the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act (FCFA), attorney Leslie Sammis can help you file a request for an adversarial preliminary hearing in the circuit court. At the APH hearing, she can retain a forensic accountant to explain why there is no nexus between the alleged fraud and the funds found in your account.

If the seizure for forfeiture falls under federal law, including the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000, attorney Leslie Sammis can help you file a claim for court action and answer any complaint for forfeiture. She can help you file a motion to dismiss or represent you at trial. Read more about seizures of cryptocurrency for forfeiture.

Many cryptocurrency forfeiture cases are referred to us by other attorneys in the United States or abroad. In other cases, the owner of the cryptocurrency account will contact us directly.

Call 813-250-0500.

Recent USSS Forfeiture Case Results

USSS Returns $925,121.82 USDT Seized from a Binance Account

On November 12, 2025, the United States Secret Service (USSS) ( tlrinfo@usss.dhs.gov ) returned 925,121.82 USDT, worth $925,121.82, seized from a Binance Account to Sammis Law Firm.

The seizure was part of a forfeiture action related to a criminal case pending in the Eastern District of Texas. We provided information to the USSS and the assigned AUSA that the funds were improperly seized from our clients and should be returned.

In addition to getting that $925,121.82 USDT back from USSS, we have other extensive experience handling seizures of cryptocurrency from USSS and other federal agencies. We’ve taken forfeiture cases to jury trial and gotten verdicts finding the government did not meet their burden and requiring the agency to immediately return the property and pay all of our client’s reasonable attorneys fees and costs.

When federal agencies rely blindly on automated tracing tools, innocent owners pay the price. We have used detailed breakdowns of these tracing errors to force the government’s hand in high-value seizures of crypto.

When we substantially prevailed in a forfeiture case, but the judge incorrectly refused to order the government to pay our client’s attorney fees, we took the matter up on appeal and got a favorable rule in the 11th Circuit.

Few attorneys have experience with civil asset forfeiture cases. Even fewer understand the unique issues presented when cryptocurrency or other digital assets are seized. Even fewer have both successfully litigated these cases during jury trials and on appeal.

The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm have that experience that matters most in these types of cases.

Read more about how USSS causes Tether/Tron (TRC-20) Blacklisting before obtaining a seizure warrant that causes Tether to burn and reissue the USDT to a government-controlled wallet.

USSS’s Notice of Seizure

Within 60 days of seizing cryptocurrency or other digital assets, the USSS is required to issue a personal notice of seizure and mail or email it to any potential claimant. USSS must also post that notice on the forfeiture.gov website – although it might be difficult to find unless you understand how the best ways to conduct the search for the notice.

For example, to find the published notice, you might search for:

• the exact amount of USDT seized (or look for similar amounts)
• phrases like “USDT” or “USDC” or other relevant key words
• the name of the exchange
• the USER ID (UID) number
• the wallet address (which often includes only the last four digits of the wallet address)

That 60 day notice rule applies when the asset is worth less than $500,000. Other rules might apply with the value of the seizing cryptocurrency or other digital assets is worth more than $500,000. Read more about the seizure of high value assets for forfeiture and special rules that apply. Either way, your attorney can help you locate the published notice of seizure (if it was issued) and file a “claim for court action” (even before the notice of seizure is issued).

Once you sign and file the verified claim that describes the property and your interest in it, the filing triggers a deadline for the USSS to either:

• agree to return the cryptocurrency or other digital assets; or
• convince an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) to file a complaint for forfeiture civl lawsuit in the appropriate U.S. District Court.

During that 90 day period after we file the claim, we can work on convincing the USSS attorney or the AUSA to return the cryptocurrency or other digital assets by showing:

• there is no “substantial connection” between the alleged crime and the seized cryptocurrency or other digital assets;
• there are problems with the seizure warrant make the seizure illegal;
• the client is an “innocent owner” who purchased the crypto for fair market value with no way of knowing the assets were allegedly tainted; or
• the USSS missed the 60 day deadline to issue the notice or the 90 day deadline to file the claim.

As required by 18 U.S.C. § 983, once a verified claim is filed, the government has an absolute 90-day window to either return 100% of the cryptocurrency or cause an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) to file a formal complaint in the U.S. District Court. If they miss that deadline, the court’s describe the consequence as a “death sentence” for the government’s forfeiture case – meaning they lose forever and most return the property to the person who filed the claim.

The notice of seizure might allege that there exists probable cause to believe that the cryptocurrency seized from the account qualifies as funds:

• traceable to, and are therefore proceeds of, a wire fraud offense or offenses, committed in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343;
• involved in a money laundering violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 and 1957;
• subject to civil forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(C); and
• subject to forfeiture in the United States under 18 U.S.C. sections 981(b) and 981(b)(3).

Example of the USSS’s Notice of Seizure

The personal “notice of seizure” that might be mailed or emailed to you is essentially a form letter. The notice of seizure from USSS gives you the following options:

1. file a petition for remission or mitigation (which usually results in a rejection letter providing no relief mailed out 10 months later);
2. file a claim for court action to contest the legality of the seizure and present defenses such as being an “innocent owner” or “owner victim” so that the funds are returned to you quickly instead of being “forfeited to the government”; or
3. do nothing so the agency can take title and ownership of the asset without a fight through a default administrative action or a default judgment in a judicial action in court.

That notice of seizure might contain the following information:

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

United States Secret Service

Washington, D.C. 20223

[date]

[name of potential claimant and their mailing or email address]

Re:          Seizure of Property

Agency Case Number: [11 digit number]

Seizure Number: [10 digit number – XXX-2026-XXX]

Asset Identification: [14 digit number – XXX-2026-XXX-XXXX]

Asset Description:

[__ USDT from [Binance] Account User ID (UID) #___                                                                              Belonging to [owner of wallet listed in KYC information]

Asset Value: [current value in USD]

Dear [name of potential claimant],

On [date of seizure] in [location of seizure such as Seychelles for Binance.com], the property described above was seized for forfeiture by the United States Secret Service (USSS) from [name of owner of the Binance Account listed in the KYC information obtained by USSS through serving a search warrant].

The item is subject to forfeiture pursuant to Title 18 USC 981 as properties that were used in, or acquired by, violations of Title 18 USC 1956 and Title 18 USC 1957, predicated upon violations of Title 18 USC 1343.

As you (or, if applicable, your organization) have been identified as a potential interested party in this matter, this letter is to inform you of the following options:

1. You may agree to the forfeiture and petition the USSS for return/remission of the forfeited property by filing the attached “Petition for Remission/Mitigation” form [Editorial Note: this option usually results in a rejection form letter mailed out 10 month later].
2. You may disagree with the forfeiture and seek to contest it in United States District Court by filing a claim with the attached “Seized Asset Claim Form.” [Editorial Note: the attorneys at Sammis Law Firm always recommend filing the claim when the owner of the property wants to get it back].
3. You may have no interest in this property and therefore do not need to respond to this letter in any manner.

To Request Remission or Mitigation of Forfeiture

If you agree with the USSS that the property is subject to forfeiture and wish to have the USSS, through the administrative process, determine whether to remit (i.e., return the property (or your interest in it) or the value thereof) or mitigate (i.e., return the property or the value thereof upon imposition of a penalty) the forfeiture, you must submit the attached “Petition for Remission or Mitigation” form to the address indicated below.

The petition must include proof of your interest in the property supported by bills of sale, contracts, mortgages, or other satisfactory documentary evidence and must include the facts and circumstances that you believe justify remission or mitigation of forfeiture. In order to obtain remission or mitigation of the forfeiture, the petitioner must satisfactorily establish the following:

1. With respect to a property interest in existence at the time that the illegal conduct giving rise to forfeiture took place, a petitioner must establish the following:
   • a legally cognizable property interest in the seized property; and
   • no knowledge of the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture; or
   • upon learning of the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture, the petitioner did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate such use of the property.
2.  With respect to a property interest acquired after the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture has taken place, a petition must establish:
   • a legally cognizable property interest in the seized property;
   • at the time the property interest was acquired, that the petitioner;
   • was a bona fide purchaser or seller for value; and
   • that the petitioner did not know and was reasonably without cause to believe that the property was subject to forfeiture.
3. A petitioner who cannot establish a property interest in the property [maybe because they are classified as a non-owner Victim instead of an owner Victim], may obtain remission or mitigation of the forfeiture if the petition established that:
   • a pecuniary loss of a specific amount has been directly caused by the criminal offense, or related offense, that was the underlying basis for the forfeiture supported by documentary evidence including invoices and receipts;
   • the pecuniary loss is the direct result of the illegal acts and is not the result of otherwise lawful acts that were committed in the course of a criminal offense;
   • the victim did not knowingly contribute to, participate in, benefit from, or act in a willfully blind manner towards the commission of the offense, or related offense, that was the underlying basis of the forfeiture;
   • the victim has not in fact been compensated for the wrongful loss of the property by the perpetrator or others; and
   • the victim does not have recourse reasonably available to other assets from which to obtain compensation for the wrongful loss of the property.

The petition should be filed within thirty-five (35) days of the date of this letter.

To Contest the Forfeiture

If you disagree with the USSS that the property is subject to forfeiture and want the case tried in U.S. District Court, you must file a Claim of Ownership using the attached “Seized Asset Claim Form” with the USSS by [________ insert the deadline which is usually 35 days after the date on the letter. If you did not receive the personal notice, you can go by the date in the published notice on the forfieture.gov website. But talk to an attorney about how to calculate that deadline property because the application of the rules is counter intuitive].

Please note: if your sole intention is to request remission or mitigation of forfeited property (see above), and you are not seeking to challenge the forfeiture in court, you need only submit the enclosed “Petition for Remission or Mitigation” form.

In that instance it is unnecessary to submit both the Petition for Remission or Mitigation” form and the “Seized Asset Claim” form.

he Claim of Ownership must:

1. Identify specific property claimed;
2. State the claimant’s interest in the property;
3. Provide documentary evidence of the claimant’s interest, if available;
4. State that the claim is not frivolous; and
5. Be signed and made under oath subject to penalty of perjury.

As stated above, the person alleging an interest in the property must swear to the Claim of Ownership under penalty of perjury. For your reference, the acceptable language required by statute is as follows:

I declare, (or certify, or verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed On Sworn Date

Party Signature

Unsupported submissions signed by attorneys are insufficient to satisfy the requirement that claims be personally executed.

A Seized Asset Claim form is enclosed for your convenience. Seized Asset Claim Forms must be submitted to the address indicated below.

Release of Property to Avoid Substantial Hardship

If you choose to contest the forfeiture and file a Claim of Ownership using the Seized Asset Claim Form as set forth above, you may be entitled to immediate release of the seized property if:

1. You have a possessory interest in the property;
2. You have sufficient ties to the community to provide assurance that the property will be available at the time of the trial;
3. You show that the continued possession by the Government pending the final disposition of forfeiture proceedings will cause you substantial hardship;
4. You show that your likely hardship from the continued possession by the Government of the seized property outweighs the risk that the property will be destroyed, damaged, lost, concealed, or transferred if it is returned to you during the pendency of the proceedings;
5. The property is not contraband, evidence of a violation of a law, currency, or currency, or other monetary instrument, or electronic funds unless such other monetary instrument or electronic funds constitutes the assets of a business that has been seized;
6. The property is not, by reason of design or other characteristic, particularly suited for use in illegal activities;
7. The property is not likely to be used to commit additional criminal acts if returned to you.

A claimant seeking release of property must file a request for Possession of the Property with the Deputy Assistant Director of the USSS’s Office of Field Operations at the address indicated below. A request for Possession of the Property must set forth the basis on which the requirements listed above are met.

If not later than fifteen days after the USSS receives a request for Possession of the Property the property is not released, the claimant may file a petition for release of the property in the district court in which the seizure warrant was issued or in the district court for the district in which the property was seized.

Please ensure that any correspondence regarding this matter references the Seizure Number provided above. All documents should be submitted to [an email at @usss.dhs.gov which might be “USSSCryptoNotices@usss.dhs.gov”] or to the following address via commercial carrier

(e.g., FedEx, DHL, UPS).

Communications Center – AFB
245 Murray Lane, S.W.
Building #T-5
Washington, DC 20223

USSS’s Virtual Currency Release Forms

When your civil asset forfeiture attorney negotiated the release of your cryptocurrency, you might be asked to sign and notarize a virtual currency release form. The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm recently received such a form.

The Virtual Currency Release Form often contains broad liability waivers or hidden cost-shifting clauses. You should hire an attorney to carefully review and negotiate these terms to ensure you are not inadvertently waiving interest claims or statutory rights under CAFRA.

Once example of this form is listed below:

USSS – Standard Sensitive Info USSS Seizure Number: XXX-XXX-XXXX

VIRTUAL CURRENCY RELEASE FORM

To obtain the release and virtual currency transfer under the above-referenced seizure number, please complete the below virtual currency transfer form, in its entirety, to include the signature by a notary official, and include a copy of your passport or identification card, as well as that of any representative on your behalf.

Once the United States Secret Service is in receipt of your completed Virtual Currency Release Form, the transfer will be initiated.

Recipient’s Full Name: _______________________________________________

Representative’s Full Name (if applicable): _______________________________________________

Representative’s Bar Number (if applicable): _______________________________________________

Recipient’s Wallet Address: _______________________________________________

Confirmation of Recipient’s Wallet Address: __________________________________________________

Type of Virtual Currency to be Released/Transferred (BTC, LTC, USDT, ETH, etc.) _________________________________________________

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE USSS –

Standard Sensitive Info USSS Seizure Number: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Network for Token Transfer (Required):

USSS is unable to send via the TRX network

_________________________________________________

Recipient’s Wallet Form (Private Wallet, Decentralization Exchange, Hosted Wallet – Name exchange): ___________________________________________________

Executed this _____ day of _______2025

SIGNATURE: _______________________

[Name of Claimant]

Executed this _____ day of _______2025

SIGNATURE: _______________________

Representative: Leslie M. Sammis

NOTARY: STATE OF ____________________________

CITY/COUNTY OF _____________________

Sworn to the and subscribed before me, the undersigned notary public, by _____________________ on, behalf of _________________, this ____ day of ____ 2025.

NOTARY PUBLIC: ____________________________

MY COMMISSION EXPIRES: ___________________

18 U.S.C. § 984 Seizures of Fungible and Commingled Property

In some of these cases, law enforcement might conclude that the individual responsible for the fraud resides outside the United States.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 984, a court may order the forfeiture of funds in a bank account into which monies subject to forfeiture have been deposited without the need to trace the funds currently in the account to the specific deposits that are subject to forfeiture up to the amount of the funds subject to forfeiture that have been deposited into the account within the past one-year period.

Section 984 (a) provides in part:

(1) In any forfeiture action in rem in which the subject property is cash [or] funds deposited in an account in a financial institution

(A) it shall not be necessary for the Government to identify the specific property involved in the offense that is the basis for the forfeiture; and

(B) it shall not be a defense that the property involved in such an offense has been removed and replaced by identical property.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (c), any identical property found in the same place or account as the property involved in the offense that is the basis for the forfeiture shall be subject to forfeiture under this section.

18 U.S.C. § 984(b) provides:

“No action pursuant to this section to forfeit property not traceable directly to the offense that is the basis for the forfeiture may be commenced more than 1 year from the date of the offense.”

Thus, under Section 984, a court may order the civil forfeiture of monies found in a bank account into which deposits of criminal proceeds subject to forfeiture had been made, up to the amount of the forfeitable deposits that have been made into the account within the prior one-year period, without the need for tracing the funds to be forfeited to any of the specific forfeitable deposits.

This article was last updated on Thursday, June 11, 2026.