The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has seized over $40 million in cryptocurrency and shut down the TradeOgre exchange, a move that is both a first for Canadian law enforcement and the largest crypto asset seizure in the country’s history. The action was carried out after the RCMP’s Money Laundering Investigative Team (MLIT) began investigating TradeOgre’s activities in June 2024, following a tip from Europol. The platform went offline at the end of July, leading some users to suspect an exit scam. However, Canadian authorities confirmed they were responsible for the shutdown.
The RCMP stated that the platform was operating illegally because it had not registered as a money services business with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Furthermore, it was not identifying its clients, a practice known as Know Your Customer (KYC). TradeOgre was a small exchange platform that focused on user privacy and specialized in niche altcoins and the harder-to-trace Monero cryptocurrency. Its lack of identification policies made it particularly appealing to those who wished to remain anonymous, including, investigators believe, cybercriminals.
The Canadian authorities’ decision to take down the exchange and seize the funds drew criticism from some users, who claimed not everyone on the platform was a criminal. For instance, Taylor Monahan of MetaMask stated that she and her friends used the exchange and demanded that the authorities provide recourse for “innocent parties” whose money was seized without warning. She expressed her desire to see the evidence and a clear process for those who were not involved in illegal activities.
In response to the backlash, the RCMP acknowledged that they could not “confirm that all of the seized cryptocurrencies originated from illegal transactions.” They added that non-criminal customers of the exchange may have to go through the Canadian court system to potentially recover their funds. This process would begin if and when the RCMP decides to pursue the forfeiture of the cryptocurrency in question.
The shutdown of TradeOgre highlights the growing scrutiny on cryptocurrency platforms that operate outside of established financial regulations. By targeting an exchange that focused on user anonymity and did not adhere to standard legal requirements, Canadian authorities are sending a clear message about the importance of compliance. This case sets a significant precedent for how law enforcement agencies may handle future investigations and enforcement actions in the evolving world of cryptocurrency.
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