In brief
- Two senators have introduced the SAFE Crypto Act, a bipartisan bill that would establish a federal taskforce aimed at combating cryptocurrency fraud.
- The taskforce would meet at least 3 times per year, and would be composed of government and law enforcement officials, and also crypto industry representatives.
- Potential stakeholders suggest that the force, if established, would be significant in enabling a much greater degree of cross-sector coordinated action.
Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) have introduced the bipartisan SAFE Crypto Act, a bill that would establish a federal taskforce aimed at reducing cryptocurrency scams.
The text of the bill makes it clear that the Secretary of the Treasury would be required to establish the taskforce within 180 days of the act’s passage, and that it should be made up of officials and also representatives of the crypto industry (including exchanges and blockchain intelligence firms).
The force will have five primary activities and objectives: 1) scam detection and prevention; 2) establishing a cross-sector approach to fraud prevention; 3) collecting info and insight from a wide variety of stakeholders; 4) information sharing between participants; and 5) asset recovery and seizure.
To achieve its ends, the taskforce would be required to meet at least three times per year, with work focused on identifying current methods for scamming individuals, devising prevention methods, producing strategies for educating the public, coordinating law enforcement efforts, and also collaborating with foreign governments.
The bill also requires that, within one year of formation, the taskforce produces a report outlining its practices and strategies, and also recommending any necessary regulatory or legislative changes.
Speaking in the accompanying press release, both Senator Slotkin and Moran underlined the need for such legislation, particularly as cryptocurrency comes to be more widely used.
“Our legislation would establish a task force to strengthen coordination between government agencies, law enforcement and the financial services industry as they work together to identify and combat cryptocurrency fraud,” said Senator Moran.
An “important foundation”
The same release also features a statement from Ari Redbord, VP and Global Head of Policy at TRM Labs, which may potentially end up serving on the taskforce as one of the “blockchain intelligence providers” mentioned in the bill’s text.
According to Redbord, the SAFE Crypto Act is significant because it provides official recognition that more than information sharing is necessary to combat crypto scams, and that coordinated, cross-sector action is also required.
“Since 2023, more than $53 billion has been stolen globally through crypto-enabled scams and theft,” he told Decrypt. “Combating that threat requires a whole-of-government approach that can identify scam activity early, freeze and seize funds where legally available, and dismantle the infrastructure that enables these schemes to operate at scale.”
Given that the bill would require the resulting taskforce to produce recommendations as to further legislation, it may only represent a first step in combating the growing threat of crypto fraud, yet Redbord suggested that it will be an vital one.
“The SAFE Crypto Act lays an important foundation for a more coordinated, action-oriented response to crypto-enabled fraud and theft,” he concluded.
The bill comes as data suggest that crypto fraud may have increased considerably in 2025, with a report from ImmuneFi suggesting that losses to hacks and scams had already topped $1.7 billion in April, as opposed to $1.49 billion for the entirety of 2024.
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