Who Gets Your Crypto Back - Pirates or Exchanges?

Arizona Congressman David Schweikert has introduced a bill called the "Scam Farms Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025". The proposal would allow the U.S. President to grant special authorizations to private individuals to seize crypto assets from cybercriminals.

These “private agents” - essentially state-sanctioned pirates - would be permitted to use any reasonable means, including armed force, to confiscate assets, detain, or punish criminals deemed a national security threat.

Once again, it shows that policymakers don’t see the need to buy crypto for national purposes - they prefer relying on enforcement power instead.

Meanwhile, it almost feels surreal that earlier this week some exchanges teamed up with law enforcement agencies and private investigators in a new network aimed at tracking and freezing stolen crypto. One of the stated goals was “returning funds lost to fraud.”

But in reality, that part of the AML agenda has been fading. Confiscating crypto from criminals has become the focus - while the idea of giving it back to victims is rarely even mentioned.

I’d like to believe that these horizontal networks will prove more effective than state enforcement, and that stolen funds will not only be seized but also returned. And, of course, that they’ll be taken only from criminals - not from just anyone. Exchanges, after all, have a mixed reputation. (See the screenshot for one recent example.)

As a reminder: at rabbit.io we don’t hold your funds in custody. Unlike custodial platforms, we have no interest in freezing or seizing your assets.