Overview

• On August 14, six federal warrants across Texas, Virginia and California authorized seizure of over $2.8 million in cryptocurrency, $70,000 in cash and a luxury vehicle from a wallet tied to Ianis Antropenko
• Antropenko is indicted in the Northern District of Texas for deploying Zeppelin ransomware to encrypt and exfiltrate global victims’ data and for conspiring to commit computer fraud and money laundering
• Unsealed filings allege he laundered extortion proceeds using the now-defunct ChipMixer mixing service and by converting cryptocurrency into cash through structured deposits
• The operation is led by DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section alongside the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, Norfolk Field Office and Virtual Assets Unit
• Some reports say the seized digital assets could join the federal government’s expanding cryptocurrency reserve as part of a broader DOJ trend in aggregating forfeited assets