US President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable at the White House on cybercrime, even as he and members of his administration face scrutiny from lawmakers and voters over accusations that they used their positions to enrich themselves with digital assets.
Speaking at the roundtable event on Wednesday, Trump said “countless” Americans lost more than $20 billion from cybercrime in 2025 through impersonation schemes, ransomware attacks, scam centers and other methods. The president added that federal officials had frozen $1 billion in “cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers” and prevented $1.6 billion in losses in 2025 from going to criminals engaging in cybercrime following a March executive order.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (left), President Donald Trump (center) and Attorney General Todd Blanche (right) speaking at the White House on Wednesday. Source: White House
Notably, neither the president nor Attorney General Todd Blanche explicitly used the term “cryptocurrency” or “digital assets” when discussing the scams affecting many Americans, despite reports before the roundtable signaling a crackdown on foreign crypto scams would be the focus of the event. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin similarly only referred to “digital extortion.” “Cybercurrency,” the word Trump used, is a dated term for what many people now call cryptocurrency.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that Americans had lost $11 billion from scams in 2025 specifically related to digital assets, including through crypto ATMs. Cointelegraph reached out to the White House for comment on the roundtable but did not receive an immediate response.
Related: Ex-Trump crypto adviser profited after helping pass stablecoin bill: WSJ
The president and his family are tied to several crypto ventures which Trump reported netted him $1.4 billion in 2025, while his alleged “schemes” cost investors about $4.7 billion, according to a Public Citizen report. His family’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, also faces scrutiny for its USD1 stablecoin being used to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance by an entity tied to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the United Arab Emirates.
Trump’s memecoin project, Official Trump (TRUMP), is hosting another dinner for tokenholders on Nov. 22. Similar events organized by the team behind the memecoin have prompted accusations from lawmakers and interest groups of Trump selling access to the presidency through “pay-to-play” schemes.
Italian police arrest 30 people in crypto money laundering scheme
The White House roundtable followed reports that Italian authorities arrested 30 people for using crypto to launder millions of dollars through a bank allegedly tied to the mafia. According to Bloomberg, Italy’s police were investigating a criminal network that sent money from corporate fraud, crypto investment scams, and drug trafficking to digital wallets.
Magazine: Can the SEC and CFTC’s pro-crypto rules be overturned? Legal opinion
