Joanna Summers is VP of public sector at Valid8 Financial and a former U.S. Marshals Service specialist who helped build the DOJ’s first cryptocurrency forfeiture processes, including on the Silk Road case.

Government agencies rarely add an entirely new asset class to their investigative playbook. The rise of cryptocurrency initially left them without one. Federal investigators maintain proven procedures for seizing and managing cash, vehicles, real estate and other traditional assets tied to crime. They know how to handle forfeiture from start to finish.

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Cryptocurrency upended that familiarity. Transactions occur at the click of a button and prove largely irreversible once confirmed. Legacy tracking systems were never designed for this asset class. Cryptocurrency is also pseudonymous — a feature criminals exploit to move funds beyond traditional banking oversight, creating complex trails that stretch across jurisdictions. Early cases exposed a harsh reality: government systems lacked the tools to monitor, track or secure these assets effectively.

With limited budgets and rising caseloads, agencies at every level struggle to scale the administrative demands of cryptocurrency investigations. The surge in illicit activity on exchanges has only intensified the pressure. Agencies needed practical ways to keep pace.

Public-private partnerships close that gap. These collaborations enable public agencies to leverage private-sector expertise and advanced technology to seize, manage and liquidate a currency that grows more popular and complex every year.

Silk Road exposed the limits of legacy systems

Early in my career at the U.S. Marshals Service, I received a call about taking custody of Bitcoin tied to the Silk Road investigation, one of the biggest cases of its time. Our team suddenly found ourselves responsible for roughly 175,000 Bitcoin, as well as the responsibility of developing a custody and disposal roadmap for them. No established protocols existed for auditing or monitoring this new asset. We even questioned whether cryptocurrency would endure long enough to justify building dedicated processes.

Securing those funds proved far more difficult than anyone anticipated. Exchanges operated with minimal oversight, cold storage technology remained immature, and government systems offered no alerts if the assets moved or the blockchain forked.

After the Silk Road seizure, I helped develop the Department of Justice’s first cryptocurrency custody and disposal procedures. It quickly became clear that an in-house only model could not scale with the growing volume of cases. The government needed meaningful support from the private sector.

Crypto compounds the strain on financial investigations

Traditional fraud cases already demand heavy lifting. Investigators gather and reconcile years of transactions from multiple banks and institutions, then sift through fragmented records under tight regulatory rules. The work often stretches for weeks or months. Teams then shift into the role of financial analysts, hunting patterns across disorganized spreadsheets and paper records.

Cryptocurrency multiplies the complexity, as these cases pull in far more data sources. Pseudonymity complicates ownership verification. Instant cross-border transfers bring in additional agencies, foreign governments and regulatory layers. The volume of transactions explodes, forcing investigators to trace funds while producing clear, court-ready evidence.

To follow the money and securely manage assets, governments must look beyond their existing tools and systems. Without outside technology, law enforcement personnel spend excessive time acting as data analysts instead of investigators. State and local departments, which operate with even tighter resources than federal agencies, face the greatest strain. This imbalance heightens the value of public-private partnerships across all levels of government.

Partnerships deliver results when scaled thoughtfully

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sets international standards for anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT), emphasizing know-your-customer (KYC) procedures. These standards require financial institutions to verify client identities, understand beneficial ownership and monitor transactions to prevent financial crime. As financial institutions have adapted, they have become capable partners for government agencies, not just in cryptocurrency cases but across all financial flows.

Private-sector tools now automate much of the data preparation and analysis that slow investigations. Agencies that adopt them can resolve cases faster, recover more assets and build stronger evidence chains.The payoff is more effective disruption of the financial networks behind criminal organizations.

State and local agencies are already demonstrating what is possible. The Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office in New York, for example, secured convictions in an elder exploitation case and a child neglect and homicide investigation using clear financial evidence supported by specialized tools.

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Agencies must be able to follow the money trail wherever it leads, especially as cryptocurrency use expands. Defining the right structure for public-private partnerships and what success looks like will evolve over time. Agencies cannot build these relationships without dedicated resources. Proposals for federal grants to support tools and training offer one promising path forward.

Having worked in both government and the private sector, I’ve seen these collaborations reduce administrative bottlenecks and deliver better outcomes. When investigators gain the right capabilities, they can sever the financial lifelines that empower criminal enterprises.

The alternative to adopting new technology leaves agencies perpetually behind. Strategic partnerships, built on clear guidelines and sustained support, give law enforcement the edge it needs to keep up with evolving fraud investigations.