TLDR
- President Trump hosted a White House cybercrime roundtable focused on scams run by foreign criminal groups.
- The administration says it has halted about $833 million in crypto tied to overseas scams and seized 503 fraudulent crypto websites.
- Trump and top officials did not use the word “cryptocurrency,” and Trump said “cybercurrency” instead.
- The FBI says Americans lost $11 billion in 2025 to scams tied to digital assets.
- Trump’s family crypto ventures face scrutiny from lawmakers weeks before the midterm elections.
President Donald Trump hosted a cybercrime roundtable at the White House on Wednesday. A White House official said the event would focus on efforts against overseas crypto scams.
SOON AT THE WHITE HOUSE: President Donald J. Trump highlights the admin's efforts to crack down on foreign criminal networks that lure Americans into fraudulent crypto investments. pic.twitter.com/pFu8mSjkwL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 21, 2026
Trump said “countless” Americans lost more than $20 billion to cybercrime in 2025. He listed impersonation schemes, ransomware attacks and scam centers as methods.
The administration says law enforcement has halted about $833 million in crypto linked to overseas scams. Officials also say 503 fraudulent crypto websites were seized under the Homeland Security Task Force.
About 9,000 U.S. citizens were told they were being victimized, according to the official. Trump said federal officials froze $1 billion in “cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers.”
He added that $1.6 billion in losses to criminals was prevented in 2025 after a March executive order.
Last November, the Department of the Treasury formed a multi-agency Scam Center Strike Force. It targets “pig butchering” scams run by organized crime in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines.
The U.S. has also issued sanctions since last year to block websites and infrastructure behind these attacks.
Officials Avoid the Word Crypto
Neither Trump nor Attorney General Todd Blanche used the terms “cryptocurrency” or “digital assets” at the roundtable. This was true even though reports before the event said crypto scams would be the focus.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin referred only to “digital extortion.” Trump used “cybercurrency,” which is an older term for cryptocurrency.
The FBI reported that Americans lost $11 billion in 2025 to scams tied to digital assets. That figure includes losses through crypto ATMs.
Trump’s Crypto Ties Under Scrutiny
The event came as Trump and his administration face questions about crypto and self-dealing. The midterm elections are about two weeks away.
Trump reported that his family’s crypto ventures earned him $1.4 billion in 2025. A Public Citizen report says his alleged “schemes” cost investors about $4.7 billion.
World Liberty Financial, the family’s crypto company, faces questions over its USD1 stablecoin. The coin was used to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance by an entity tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.
Lawmakers and interest groups have accused the team behind Trump’s memecoin, Official Trump, of “pay-to-play” schemes. The project will host another dinner for tokenholders on Nov. 22.
Separately, Italian police arrested 30 people for using crypto to launder money through a bank allegedly tied to the mafia, according to Bloomberg.
