The US President detailed many schemes defrauding Americans, but referred only to “cybercurrency“ related to scams.
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.
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