Why 2025 Was a 'Big Year for Scam Activity

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4.7 • 698 Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

TRM Labs' Ari Redbord joins CoinDesk to discuss how 2025’s record-breaking asset recovery efforts and blockchain transparency are countering a 500% surge in AI-driven crypto scams. TRM Labs, Ari Redbord joins CoinDesk's Jennifer Sanasie to dissect a transformative year for crypto security. While 2025 saw high-stakes exploits and a 500% surge in AI-enabled scams, it also marked one of the greatest years for asset recovery in history. Ari explains why he calls blockchains the “ultimate crime scene” and how global investigators are leveraging immutable ledgers to claw back billions from bad actors. Check out CoinDesk's research report on GoPlus Security at: https://www.coindesk.com/research/protocol-research-goplus-security - Timecodes: 00:46 - 2025: A Year of Maturity and Challenges 01:53 - The $53 Billion Scam Epidemic 03:14 - From Law Enforcement to National Security: The Government Response 05:47 - How Blockchain Solves Financial Crimes 07:43 - Education on Capitol Hill: Do Policymakers Finally "Get It"? 09:05 - The Crypto Paradox: How the DOJ Seizes Billions in Stolen Assets 10:41 - The AI Arms Race: 500% Increase in AI-Enabled Scams 12:46 - The Safe Crypto Act 14:35 - Will 2026 Be The Year of Execution? - This episode was hosted by Jennifer Sanasie.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Global Investigations team talks about the blockchain as a crime scene.
0:04.7	We've never had a crime scene before where you could look back years at transactions because
0:09.3	they're there forever.
0:10.5	So that really allows us to do financial crime investigations better than we've ever done
0:15.1	them before because we can track and trace the flow of funds in order then to work to seize
0:20.0	them back.
0:31.3	Web3 attacks are rising, but GoPlus, the leading Web3 security layer is fighting back.
0:36.3	A new CoinDesk research report details how GoPlus protects billions and assets as the decentralized security layer for over 40 blockchains.
0:39.1	Discover the real-time infrastructure powering the GPS token and the GoPlus app at CoinDisc.com
0:44.6	forward slash research.
0:46.3	Hey, everyone, you're watching CoinDesk.
0:48.0	I'm Jen Senesi.
0:49.1	2025 has been a year of maturity for the crypto industry, but as the tech gets smarter,
0:55.2	so are the bad actors. From high stakes, exploits to evolving recovery tactics, the battle for on-chain security has never
1:00.4	been greater. Joining us now to break down the year that was and what's on the horizon for 2026
1:05.3	is Airy Redboard, global head of policy at TRM Labs. Hey, Airy. Jen, thank you so much for having me. I love joining
1:12.5	the show. And what a remarkable moment to be talking about this extraordinary industry as we grow
1:18.1	in really every way, policy, institutional adoption, and really all else. So thank you for having me.
1:24.3	Of course. Thanks for coming on. We always love having you on the show.
1:32.0	And it's exactly what you said. What a remarkable moment to be working in this industry. Things are really moving forward at a pace that we haven't seen before. Let's level set here. Let's lay a
1:37.5	little bit of a foundation. Talk to me about the numbers. How did 2025 compare to the years
1:43.6	before it when it comes to hacks, scams, and security?
	...

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