Crypto Scammers Face Unprecedented Heat As SAFE Crypto Act Unites Top US Enforcers

The regulatory hammer is swinging—and crypto's bad actors are directly in its path.

The Enforcement Cavalry Arrives

Forget the slow grind of bureaucratic rulemaking. The SAFE Crypto Act isn't just another piece of legislative paper; it's a direct mandate for action. It effectively deputizes the SEC, CFTC, and DOJ, creating a coordinated task force with a single, clear mission: hunt down digital asset fraud. This isn't about defining a security; it's about deploying handcuffs.

Closing the 'Wild West' Loopholes

The law strategically bypasses years of definitional debates that scammers have exploited. By establishing clear jurisdictional lanes and enhancing penalties, it cuts off the escape routes. Rug pulls, pump-and-dumps, and outright theft now trigger a multi-agency response instead of a regulatory ping-pong match. It turns legal gray areas into bright red lines.

A New Era of Accountability

The message to the industry is brutal in its simplicity: clean up or get locked up. While legitimate builders may welcome the clarity, fraudsters face a stark new reality. Their sophisticated schemes now confront an equally sophisticated, and powerfully motivated, enforcement apparatus. The cost of doing dirty business just skyrocketed.

The ultimate irony? The same 'innovation' that fueled the scams—blockchain's transparency—now provides the immutable evidence trail for their prosecution. A fitting end, really, for an industry where trust was always supposed to be code, not a marketing slogan.

Task Force To Target Crypto Scams

The bill WOULD set up a task force that pulls together Treasury officials, federal and local law enforcement, regulators, and private-sector experts to share intelligence and act quickly on threats.

Reports have disclosed that the legislation is pitched as a way to get real-time visibility on suspicious activity and to give local police better technical help when they investigate.

Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) are listed as the bill’s proponents. The measure appears in Congress under a title that would establish a “Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Cryptocurrency Scams,” and is referenced by bill number S.3428 in congressional records. As of Dec. 17, 2025, the full legislative text had not been posted on the Congressional site.

Public Education And Local Support

The sponsors say the task force will do more than hunt scammers. It will fund public awareness work so consumers can spot fake investment pitches, phishing schemes, and impersonation fraud.

Local law enforcement would get training and access to blockchain analytics tools, the backers say, so officers can follow illicit funds and identify criminal networks before victims lose large sums.

Industry figures quoted in the announcement said crypto fraud has been large and growing. According to one industry policy lead cited by the sponsors, “Over the last two years, we’ve tracked billions in scams and fraud across the crypto ecosystem.” That warning is a central piece of the case lawmakers are making for faster, coordinated action.

ngl a lot of memecoin ETC scammers will probably end up shitting themselves if this goes hard, it fills a regulatory/enforcement gap that many probably assumed is permanent/long-term https://t.co/AdKlzVPh9D

— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) December 16, 2025

Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at crypto investment firm Delphi Labs, said that if the SAFE Crypto Act is carried out effectively, it could leave crypto scammers scrambling to stay ahead of enforcement.

Shapiro added in a post on X on Tuesday that “scammers will probably end up sh*tting themselves if this goes hard,” stressing that the US attorney general, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the director of the US Secret Service would be among the senior officials leading efforts to pursue the bad guys.

Lawmakers argue that criminals have grown more skilled at using decentralized systems and cross-border services to hide proceeds. The SAFE Crypto Act is being presented as a way to narrow that gap by making public and private responders work from a shared playbook. The initiative is part of a wave of digital currency-related policy moves being discussed in Congress this year.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView