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Arizona legislator David Schweikert presented \u201cThe Scam Farms Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025\u201d in August, which suggests neo-privateers \u2014 state-licensed raiders \u2014 to tackle cybercriminals involved in threats against the United States.<\/p>\n
The measure<\/a> empowers the US president to issue letters of marque<\/a> to \u201cprivately armed and equipped individuals\u201d contracted by the government to \u201cutilize all means reasonably necessary\u201d to confiscate property and detain or \u201cpunish\u201d cybercriminals identified as a threat by the president.<\/p>\n These threats encompass crypto theft, pig butchering scams<\/a>, ransomware assaults, identity theft, unauthorized access to computers to acquire sensitive personal or classified data, online password trafficking, and infiltrating computers with harmful code. The measure stated:<\/p>\n \u201cCriminal organizations that engage in cybercrimes and coerced labor pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the economic and national security of the United States.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The bill classified the scams as \u201cacts of war\u201d executed by individuals, organized crime syndicates, and foreign states against the US, marking a revival of an 18th-century statute that may have implications for the future of cybersecurity and asset confiscation if enacted.<\/p>\n Related: <\/strong><\/em>Crypto crime unit with $250M in seizures expands with Binance<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Over $142 million in crypto was lost<\/a> to hackers in July, and the cumulative amount of crypto stolen so far in 2025 exceeds $3 billion<\/a>. Stolen crypto confiscated by US law enforcement officials in investigations could later be forfeited to the government in legal proceedings.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump enacted an executive order in January establishing a Bitcoin and crypto reserve<\/a>, which could only accumulate crypto through budget-neutral methods or asset forfeiture.<\/p>\n In July, the US federal government filed a civil action to claim over 20 Bitcoin<\/a> (BTC<\/a>), valued at over $2.3 million, seized by the Dallas, Texas, division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during an operation against the Chaos ransomware hacker group.<\/p>\nUS could channel seized assets into Bitcoin reserve and national crypto stockpile<\/h2>\n