Inside the FBI’s little-known annual crypto crime gathering

While the crypto industry’s biggest conferences compete for celebrity speakers and increasingly elaborate venues, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been quietly holding an annual gathering of its own.

The FBI’s Virtual Asset Technical Exchange, formerly known as the Virtual Currency Symposium, brings together law enforcement officials, overseas investigators and crypto-security professionals to exchange information on crypto crime, according to three previous attendees who spoke to CoinDesk.

Blockchain forensics firms, including Chainalysis and TRM Labs, are said to have attended this year’s event in September in San Antonio, Texas. Nikhil Raghuveera, co-founder and CEO of Predicate, a compliance infrastructure provider for blockchain-based financial products, gave a presentation on stablecoin compliance and GENIUS.

Representatives from the Security Alliance (SEAL), a nonprofit focused on protecting the crypto ecosystem from cyber threats, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Treasury bureau responsible for combating money laundering and illicit finance, also attended, the people said.

The FBI and Chainalysis declined to comment. TRM confirmed attendance at the event. Predicate acknowledged that the company’s CEO presented at the conference.

The invitation-only symposium is capped at about 50 private-sector vendors and partners, with total attendance running into the hundreds, two of the people said. The program combines keynote speeches, panel discussions and fireside chats with networking opportunities. Companies also demonstrated their platforms in demo rooms.

Discussions covered the illicit use of virtual assets by cartels and in terrorist financing, cyber-enabled fraud, scams, child sexual abuse material, human trafficking and violent crime, including so-called wrench attacks. Attendees also examined emerging hacks, North Korean activity and ways for industry and law enforcement to share intelligence, according to a source familiar with the event.

Attendees range from senior FBI officials and frontline investigators to representatives of other U.S. agencies and overseas law enforcement partners.

“This is not a crypto event,” one of the attendees said. “It is a law enforcement event for law enforcement and the people they work with.”

The atmosphere at the Virtual Asset Technical Exchange differs markedly from industry conferences, with discussions centered on illicit finance, national security and investigations intended to produce arrests and asset seizures. Investigators discuss active threats, techniques for following funds and successful cases, the person added.

A little-publicized gathering

The government-funded symposium is now in its ninth year and has drawn several hundred attendees, two of the people said, who spoke on condition of anonymity.