Canada Seizes Record $40M in Crypto from TradeOgre Exchange

Canadian authorities have confirmed the country’s largest cryptocurrency seizure to date, taking control of more than 56 million Canadian dollars (about $40 million) in assets from the little-known exchange ￰2￱ operation, carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), dismantled the platform entirely, marking the first time Canadian law enforcement has shut down a cryptocurrency ￰3￱ Shutdown Marks First Exchange Takedown in Canada Amid Global Crackdown The seizure followed a year-long investigation launched in June 2024 after Europol tipped off the RCMP’s money laundering ￰4￱ with its financial and cybercrime units and blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence, police traced illicit flows on the exchange, which they allege was used by criminal organizations to launder ￰5￱ press release: ￰0￱ — Arkham (@arkham) September 18, 2025 In a statement, the RCMP said TradeOgre violated Canadian regulations by failing to register with Fintrac as a money services business and by not conducting know-your-customer ￰6￱ believe the majority of funds that moved through the exchange were criminal in origin, noting that anonymity was a key feature of the ￰7￱ in 2018, TradeOgre built a reputation around trading privacy-focused coins such as Monero and emerging altcoins, attracting users who valued minimal oversight and ￰8￱ stripped-down interface and lack of KYC requirements made it popular with a niche group of traders but also drew scrutiny from law ￰9￱ about the platform’s fate began in July, when its website went offline and its X account went ￰10￱ Reddit, frustrated users questioned whether they had fallen victim to an exit scam.) August 15, 2025 Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the effort showed “what’s possible when the industry comes together with a shared goal.” The second initiative involved Canadian and ￰11￱ working with Chainalysis to block another $74 ￰12￱ Project Atlas, spearheaded by the Ontario Provincial Police, more than 2,000 crypto wallets linked to scams were identified across 14 countries, preventing an estimated $70 million in theft.

A separate arm, Operation Avalanche, focused on Ethereum-based fraud, seizing $4.3 million with the support of Canadian police and ￰13￱ United States Secret Service and Canadian officials teamed up to stop an Ethereum-based approval phishing scam. #SecretService #EthereumBlockchain ￰1￱ — ￰14￱ (@cryptonews) April 16, 2025 The collaboration expanded in April when the ￰15￱ Service joined Canadian officials under Operation Avalanche, warning victims about phishing schemes and halting further losses. “We will continue working with Canadian law enforcement and financial partners to identify and seize stolen assets to return to victims,” said Special Agent Matt ￰16￱ June, the ￰17￱ of Justice announced its largest-ever Tether seizure , moving to recover $225 million linked to a global “pig butchering” scam that funneled funds through OKX before consolidating into USDT ￰18￱ surge in enforcement comes amid growing losses to crypto ￰19￱ to the FBI, investors lost $9.3 billion in 2024 , up 66% from the year ￰20￱ warned that ransomware remains a leading threat to U.

S. infrastructure, with more than 5,400 people notified of scams so far this year.