Binance CEO Richard Teng confirmed that the exchange froze nearly $50 million in cryptocurrency tied to so-called "pig butchering" scams. The operation, which included law enforcement in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC), Chainalysis and stablecoin issuers, successfully prevented as much as $47 million from being cashed out.
This is one of the largest fraud crackdowns of the year. Pig butchering scams typically target unsuspecting victims over weeks or months, slowly building trust through online communication before pressuring them to invest in fake platforms.
Once deposits are made, the funds are shuffled through multiple layers of wallets to obscure their origin.
In this case, Chainalysis traced dozens of transfers into consolidation wallets and then into five addresses holding approximately $47 million in USDT. In June, authorities moved decisively to freeze those assets, preventing their conversion into fiat currency.
Binance goes official
Interestingly, just last week, Binance joined Coinbase, Ripple and others in launching the Beacon network, a real-time system that tracks and blocks stolen cryptocurrency across the industry.
The development comes alongside the CFTC's review of rules allowing U.S. trading on offshore platforms. By working closely with authorities and showing its ability to disrupt scams, Binance now appears less isolated from U.S. regulations, potentially allowing American users access not only to Binance.US but also to the global exchange.
Binance is using this case as evidence of its deeper cooperation with global partners. According to Teng, this effort clearly demonstrates how public-private partnerships can protect users and disrupt increasingly advanced fraud schemes operating on a worldwide scale.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team