The US Secret Service and the Bay Area Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team organized a crypto session on Reddit. Cryptocurrency investors are used to AMA sessions from altcoin founders, but today was different. Today, the US Secret Service organized an AMA (ask me anything) session. So what were the highlights?

US Secret Service Crypto

The agency, along with a criminal task force in California, described how they solve crypto crimes in a lengthy “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit. The Secret Service’s San Francisco Field Office, along with the Bay Area Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team, organized the session to educate crypto users.

According to the REACT task force, “Blockchain technology” offers great opportunities to track the flow of money. Authorities are taking action after a record in crypto hacks was reached last year. Globally, about $776 million was stolen in 32 separate attacks, mostly against decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, according to Chainalysis data.

In addition to protecting US leaders, the Secret Service also protects the country’s financial infrastructure. The agency’s San Francisco office has a group of special agents and analysts dedicated to cryptocrime.

US Secret Service Bitcoin (BTC)

One of the interesting details was the fact that the Bitcoin white paper was required reading for agents in this unit. REACT is a task force of local detectives and federal partners established by the California legislature in the late 1990s to address “high-tech crime”. They have been following crimes centered on cryptocurrencies for some time. In the last 3 years, the US has conducted several successful investigations and seized over 200,000 BTC.

The Secret Service assured Reddit users that law enforcement has the tools to monitor crypto as robustly as traditional finance. However, the agency noted that according to a US Treasury Department report from last year, money laundering in crypto is smaller than money laundering in fiat currency.

US Secret Service Monero

The privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) is untraceable, and the US has even announced a reward. The US has offered a huge reward to hackers who find a way to monitor transactions on the Monero network, but they still haven’t succeeded. Or they don’t disclose it to make criminals feel safe.

One Redditor asked if law enforcement could track the privacy-oriented Monero. Another user replied that they can. “Call me,” the Secret Service replied.

Secret Service NFT

Another user asked the Secret Service if they would issue their own meme coins or tokens. Officials shared the collection they minted last year. In doing so, they said they wanted to learn more about the NFT scam.

The collection features agents from San Francisco, including Alcatraz and Chinatown.