{
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    "date": "2026-04-10T09:09:41",
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    "slug": "operation-atlantic-us-and-uk-team-with-firms-to-trace-freeze-millions-in-stolen-crypto",
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        "rendered": "‘Operation Atlantic’: US and UK Team With Firms to Trace, Freeze Millions in Stolen Crypto"
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        "rendered": "<div>\n<div>\n<h4 color=\"#333\">In brief<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Crypto firms and government agencies teamed up in &#8220;Operation Atlantic,&#8221; designed to stop crypto fraud schemes and approval phishing campaigns. <\/li>\n<li>The sprint led to $12 million in frozen funds and $45 million in total traced funds believed to be related to crypto fraud. <\/li>\n<li>Held at the U.K.&#8217;s NCA headquarters in London, the operation had involvement from Coinbase, Binance, the Secret Service, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Crypto firms like Coinbase and Binance, alongside government agencies like the United States Secret Service and the U.K.\u2019s National Crime Agency (NCA), have flagged $45 million in stolen crypto funds as part of fraud schemes, the parties announced on Thursday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the probe, more than 20,000 victims of approval phishing fraud were identified, and $12 million in funds were frozen in the hopes of returning funds to victims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTo take on approval phishing at scale, our Global Intelligence team joined forces with multiple international law enforcement agencies and other partners for a focused operational sprint held at the National Crime Agency&#8217;s headquarters in London,\u201d Coinbase wrote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe goal was straightforward: identify victims, trace stolen funds, and disrupt the infrastructure that makes approval phishing possible\u2014as fast as we could,\u201d it added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The investigative sprint, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/361245\/operation-atlantic-secret-service-uk-canada-stop-crypto-fraud\" target=\"_blank\"><span>dubbed \u201cOperation Atlantic,\u201d<\/span><\/a><span> was first revealed last month and was hosted by the NCA at its headquarters in London. In a week of focused work there, the agencies disrupted <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk\/news\/fraudsters-targeting-cryptocurrency-stopped-and-12-million-frozen-in-nca-led-operation-atlantic?highlight=WyJvcGVyYXRpb24iLCJhdGxhbnRpYyJd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\"><span>\u201cmultiple fraud networks,\u201d<\/span><\/a><span> and will continue to analyze intelligence gathered moving forward. Other crypto firms, like on-chain security firm Chainalysis, crypto exchange Kraken, and stablecoin issuer Tether, were included as partners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Operation Atlantic is a powerful example of what is possible when international agencies and private industry work side by side,\u201d said National Crime Agency Deputy Director of Investigations Miles Bronfield, in a statement. &#8220;This intensive action has led to the safeguarding of thousands of victims in the UK and overseas, stopped criminals in their tracks and helped save others from losing their funds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The enforcement campaign was focused on crypto investors who may have been impacted by approval phishing, when malicious actors attempt to gain access to funds via fake pop-up notifications or alerts that unsuspecting victims believe come from trusted parties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More than 120 web domains used for schemes were identified during the week, according to the Secret Service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWith traditional financial crimes, this kind of cross-border, multi-agency coordination would take months,\u201d Coinbase wrote in its recap on the week. \u201cWith blockchain technology, we moved from identification to action in a single week-long sprint.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The engagement report comes just over a week after alleged North Korean hackers made off <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/363087\/solana-drift-protocol-exploited-285-million\" target=\"_blank\"><span>with around $285 million via an exploit of Solana protocol, Drift<\/span><\/a><span>. The exploit would represent just a fraction of the funds lost to crypto scam last year, with a recent report from the FBI indicating <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/363486\/11-4b-lost-to-crypto-scams-in-2025-fbi-internet-crime-report\" target=\"_blank\"><span>that more than $11.4 billion was lost to crypto scams<\/span><\/a><span> in 2025 alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Daily Debrief Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>",
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    "excerpt": {
        "rendered": "<p>In brief Crypto firms and government agencies teamed up in &#8220;Operation Atlantic,&#8221; designed to stop crypto fraud schemes and approval [&hellip;]<\/p>",
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