The FBI's Secret Yearly Meeting to Fight Crypto Crime

For 9 years, the FBI has quietly gathered investigators and crypto experts to fight scams, hacks, and state-backed threats.

While big crypto events chase celebrities and flashy stages, the FBI has quietly hosted its own gathering for nine years to fight crime involving digital money.

The event is called the Virtual Asset Technical Exchange. It brings together police, government investigators, and crypto-security experts. Their goal is simple: share information to catch criminals who use cryptocurrency (digital money that exists only online, like Bitcoin).

This year's three-day meeting took place in September in San Antonio, Texas. It drew a couple hundred people and was invitation-only — meaning you can't just buy a ticket. One attendee summed it up: *"This is not a crypto event. It is a law enforcement event."*

What did they discuss?

How criminals use crypto for fraud, scams, and human trafficking
Terrorist financing and drug cartels
North Korean hackers who target crypto companies
Big thefts, like the $270 million stolen from Drift (a crypto trading platform) in April

Who attended?

Senior FBI officials and frontline investigators
Overseas police partners
Blockchain forensics firms like Chainalysis and TRM Labs — companies that trace stolen crypto by following the digital money trail
FinCEN, the U.S. Treasury team that fights money laundering (hiding where illegal money comes from)

The meeting has changed over time. It used to be mostly government officials, but now more crypto companies join in. That's because police increasingly rely on these firms to track down hackers and recover stolen funds.

Why does this matter now? Crime tied to sanctioned countries is exploding. According to Chainalysis, entities under sanctions received 694% more crypto in 2025 as Russia, Iran, and North Korea used digital assets to fund their operations. ("Sanctioned" means officially banned from doing business with certain countries.)

The FBI even created a special Virtual Assets Unit in 2022 to focus on crypto crime.

Bottom line: As crypto grows, so does crime. This low-key FBI meeting shows that catching digital criminals now requires teamwork between police and private companies working behind the scenes.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/09/23/inside-the-fbi-s-little-known-annual-crypto-crime-gathering