Seizure of NFTs for Civil Asset Forfeiture
Traditionally money laundering schemes focused on exploiting art, real estate, or precious metals markets to conceal or transfer illicit wealth.
Today, the newest forms of high-value digital assets create the same types of opportunities for money laundering and tax evasion.
Many of the newest schemes for money laundering involve non-fungible tokens called “NFTs.”
In 2020, the legislature passed the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework. Since that time, NFTs have become even more common for criminal exploitation because they are traded on an anonymous or pseudonymous basis.
Attorney for Seizures for Forfeiture of NFT
If your NFTs or other digital assets were seized for forfeiture by agents with the state or federal government, then seek out the services of an experienced civil asset forfeiture lawyer.
Leslie Sammis is an experienced civil asset forfeiture attorney who has dealt with the seizure for forfeiture of a wide range of assets including cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
After you learn your account is frozen or that a search warrant was used by law enforcement to seize the assets, you must act quickly. The government has up to 60 days to issue a notice of seizure.
After that, you might have only 35 days to respond by filing a claim for court action. If you miss a deadline, then the government might keep the asset without a fight.
Call 813-250-0500.
What are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)?
NFTs are digital assets. Many of these assets are associated with a piece of digital artwork that contains a unique identifier. This unique identifier does not exist for other forms of digital currencies that are meant to be interchangeable.
Many NFTs are created on blockchains, including Ethereum or Solana. These blockchains allow a consumer to buy or sell the NFT online.
Like other types of digital assets, NFTs are vulnerable to the risk of theft during hacks. Other risks involve promotors using fraudulent schemes such as insider trading or market manipulation.
NFTs can be bought, sold, or traded using anonymous digital currency wallets and anonymous online accounts at centralized exchanges held in the names of others.
NFTs are not limited to digital artwork. Almost anything can be turned into a NFT, including residential homes and real estate. In fact, new blockchains are being developed specifically for real estate transactions.
Read more about the seizure of cryptocurrency for civil asset forfeiture proceedings and the seizure of Bitcoin for forfeiture.
This article was last updated on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
