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DOJ Charges 12 With $263M Crypto Theft Linked to Genesis Creditor
Most of the individuals were arrested this week in California.
Updated May 16, 2025, 4:37 p.m. Published May 16, 2025, 7:02 a.m.
What to know:
- The DOJ has charged 12 individuals in a $263 million crypto fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
- The scheme involved siphoning $243 million from a Genesis creditor using social engineering scams.
- Coinbase disclosed a data breach where scammers bribed employees, leading to potential payouts of up to $400 million.
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged 12 individuals for stealing over $263 million in crypto. The individuals are linked to an earlier investigation where scammers were able to siphon off over $243 million from a Genesis creditor.
According to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, last year one of the creditor of defunct trading firm Genesis was spoofed by a group of scammers, who were able to steal $243 million worth of digital assets and then redirect it through crypto mixers.
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Several of the individuals charged, which includes U.S. nationals and foreign, were arrested in California this week, the DOJ said in a press release on Thursday. The remaining two individuals live abroad.
The charges on the individuals range from racketeering, wire fraud to money laundering, and obstruction of justice.
Read more: Police Arrest Two People Related to $243M Crypto Heist Targeting Genesis Creditor
Social engineering scams are being increasingly used by scammers to steal crypto. Scammers obtain certain personal information and then trick the user into sending them their crypto.
On Thursday, Coinbase revealed that scammers were able to bribe some of their overseas employees and stole important user data from their database. The exchange expects to voluntarily pay users between $180 million to $400 million for the data breach.
Read more: Coinbase Could Pay Customers Up to $400M for Data Breach
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- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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