Crypto
Crypto Investment Scams Were the Most Costly Type of Fraud in the U.S. in 2025
Americans lost $7.2 billion to crypto investment scams in 2025, according to a new report from the FBI, making it the top source of financial losses from fraud reported to the agency last year. Many people don’t call the FBI after getting scammed, which means the real total is likely far larger.
The news comes from the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report, released Monday, which tracks not just crypto investment fraud, but online scams targeting the elderly, and ranswomware attacks, among others. The agency received 1,008,597 total complaints in 2025, up from 859,532 complaints in 2024. The total amount lost was over $20 billion last year.
Investment fraud was the most common type of scam reported, accounting for 49% of all cyber-related complaints in 2025, with a majority of those related to crypto investment scams.
Crypto investment scammers make an effort to appear like legitimate operations, promising huge returns to unsuspecting marks. Victims are first contacted through a number of ways, including text messages, social media, Google ads, and dating apps. Scammers will sometimes set up websites made to look like investment platforms where victims can send crypto and watch as their profits tick up steadily.
What the victim doesn’t understand is that the number they’re seeing rise each day is fake. The crypto has been sent to the scammers and the number they’re seeing in their supposed account is not real. The website is a mirage that isn’t actually holding their crypto, whether it’s bitcoin, ether, or any number of shitcoins. But as that number rises, the scammers encourage the victims to “invest” even more.
What happens when you try to extract any of that money? That’s where the victim might start to get suspicious. Because there’s always an excuse. And more often than not, the scammers will tell a victim that there are fees for withdrawing money.
The FBI has released its IC3 report annually for 25 years and 2025 is the first year that features a section on artificial intelligence. The FBI received 22,364 complaints about AI-assisted crimes, totaling $893 million in lost money. But that’s likely a vast undercount of the problem, given the fact that many people don’t send a report to the FBI when they get scammed, and others likely have no idea they’re talking with people who uses AI tools for impersonation.
Scammers will often use AI audio, video deepfakes, or fake documents created with generative AI imaging tools to convince victims they’re legitimate. Elon Musk is one of the most popular figures that crypto scammers will impersonate, as Gizmodo has reported in recent years. Scammers will often try to convince potential victims that they’re talking to the real Tesla CEO and convince people to invest in his businesses with cryptocurrencies.
Gizmodo filed a Freedom of Information Act request with FTC in 2024 that revealed some of the stories from people who were scammed by Elon Musk impersonators or people who said they were associated with the billionaire. One of the complaints was from a victim in their 50s from Michigan who said they lost $700,000.
The story is exceptional for the amount of money lost, but the techniques are common enough that they’re worth quoting at length:
In the end of June, 2023 I responded to Elon Musk’s day trading commercial on Instagram. I got a phone call from a person and started online trading with XT-BestSolutions. I’m dealing with one person [redacted] over the Viber phone services. He said he’s based in Barcelona, Spain. He guided me through the trading process daily on the XT-BestSolutions trading platform.
He also guided me through the process of transferring my money from my US Huntington bank account through Crypto wallets to XT-BestSolutions trading platform. All transaction were made through different Sources to change US dollars to cryptocurrency.
Starting on June 30, 2023 to current date, I transferred $700,000 to my XT-BestSolutions account. Through the process of online trading, XT-BestSolutions company credited me $200,000. Even though I still have more than $700,000 in my XT-BestSolutions trading platform account, I cannot withdraw any money back until I add $200,000 more to my XT-BestSolutions account to cover this additional credit, and after this (accordingly to what he saying) I will be able to withdraw all $900,000.
Its become more suspicious to me because I am not able to get information about the company, such as an address, email address or any other contact information except the phone number and one person I communicating with. [redacted]
My accountant has advised me to contact the FBI before I make anymore money transactions.
Other crypto scams include celebrities like Johnny Depp or Donald Trump, but romance scams are another popular category of investment fraud. Sometimes referred to as pig butchering, scammers will often pose as attractive people who lure unsuspecting marks with promises of love but wind up giving “investment” advice.
Victims are encouraged to contact the FBI, but the public should be aware that there are also plenty of scammers posing as FBI agents, specifically employees of the IC3.
Crypto
New Cryptocurrency Pepeto Takes $10 Million as Solana Drops and Cardano Stays 92% Below Its Peak
The Senate Banking Committee passed the Clarity Act in a 15 to 9 vote, giving crypto its first real regulatory framework from Washington. Bitcoin jumped to $82,000 on the news before dropping to $77,800, but the new cryptocurrency pulling the most capital right now is not on any major exchange yet. Pepeto https://pepetocoin.com/ has collected more than $10 million in a presale led by the same person who created the original Pepe coin, and the approaching Binance listing is where early wallets plan to collect.
New Cryptocurrency Interest Grows as the Clarity Act Clears Its First Senate Hurdle
The Clarity Act passed the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 in a bipartisan 15 to 9 vote, according to CNBC, marking the first wide ranging crypto regulation bill to clear a Senate panel. Bitcoin hit $82,000 on the vote before inflation data sent it down to $77,800, triggering $580 million in liquidations across crypto, as CoinDesk reported. The new cryptocurrency space benefits because the bill splits oversight between the SEC and CFTC, which clears the fog that kept serious capital on the sidelines.
Where Regulation Meets the Presale Entry That SOL and ADA Cannot Match
Pepeto: The Trading Hub That Protects Capital While Large Caps Bleed
Speed decides everything in crypto, and a single candle can turn a winning position into a loss before most wallets notice. Tokens that climbed 10% on the Clarity Act vote gave it all back within hours when the inflation numbers landed. Wallets without the right tools to check what they are buying or move fast enough between chains end up watching others profit.
That exact gap is where Pepeto https://pepetocoin.com/ sits, and the trading hub fills it for every wallet that enters. This is not a project waiting to go live. Every tool runs today. Worried about a contract that could drain capital? The risk scorer reads the code and flags danger before a single token leaves. Need to transfer assets across chains without bridge fees? The cross chain bridge moves them at zero cost, so every dollar arrives whole.
The trading hub is shaped for speed and clarity at every level, and the cofounder behind the original Pepe coin built this from the ground up while SolidProof completed a full audit on every contract to make sure the money inside stays protected. Staking earns 172% APY while the listing draws closer.
Analysts project this new cryptocurrency at 100x to 300x from its presale entry of $0.0000001871, and that ceiling sits far above anything Solana or Cardano can offer from their current levels. More than $10 million in committed capital already sits in the presale, and the approaching Binance listing is what turns those positions into gains. That listing ends the presale permanently, and every day outside costs ground to the wallets already inside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPX8yXeLk00
Solana (SOL)
SOL trades at $87.26 after dropping 5% in a single session following the inflation selloff, according to CoinMarketCap. Goldman Sachs exited its Solana ETF position in Q1 2026, and even with the Firedancer upgrade moving forward, the $293 peak sits 71% above current levels. That math gives roughly 3.5x, which makes SOL a recovery play but not the new cryptocurrency entry that changes a portfolio.
Cardano (ADA)
ADA sits at $0.25 with a market cap that has barely moved since early 2026, according to CoinMarketCap. The chain remains 92% off its $3.10 peak, and no DEX on Cardano competes with the volume top exchanges handle. Even a return to $1 delivers roughly 4x, which is steady recovery but cannot compete with the multiplier a presale entry offers.
The Verdict
The Clarity Act gives every new cryptocurrency a clearer path, and Bitcoin’s jump to $82,000 proved the market agrees. But the biggest returns never come from large caps that already ran. Analysts project Pepeto at 100x to 300x, and that number stays on the table while the presale remains open. Every cycle produces winners who entered during fear and collected during recovery, and the $10 million committed to Pepeto while the market dropped follows that same pattern. The Pepeto official website shows the window is still open, and the wallets entering now will be the ones everyone reads about when the listing hits.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale: https://pepetocoin.com/
FAQs
Is a new cryptocurrency like Pepeto safe to enter?
SolidProof audited every contract and the same person who built the original Pepe coin leads this project. More than $10 million committed in a bearish market confirms the conviction behind it.
Which new cryptocurrency gains most from the Clarity Act?
Pepeto’s approaching Binance listing and working tools position it as the new cryptocurrency set to benefit most as clearer regulation pulls fresh capital into presales.
How does Pepeto compare to SOL and ADA for returns?
SOL offers roughly 3.5x to its peak and ADA about 4x from here. The Pepeto official website shows a presale entry where analysts project 100x to 300x returns from the current price.
Disclaimer:
The material presented here is for informational purposes only and does not represent financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments involve high levels of volatility and risk, including the potential loss of your initial investment. Always consult a licensed advisor or conduct independent research.
Contact: Dani Bonocci
Website: https://www.tokenwire.io
Phone: +971586738991
SOURCE: Pepeto
Press release distribution
This release was published on openPR.
Crypto
Community Is King: Why Wadoozie Is Ditching Online Hype for Real-World Participation
This episode features two guests from the Wadoozie team. The project is led by Mr. Wadoozie, Senior Internet Architect Engineer of Software, who brings more than a decade of experience in the cryptocurrency industry. He is joined on this episode by Tay, Operations Manager, who has a background in marketing and management and has run operations for multiple crypto projects.
The token launches with a roughly one billion effective supply (two billion minted, 999,999,999 burned at launch), 0% buy/sell tax, a DAO-governed locked liquidity pool, and a renounced contract — every parameter publicly verifiable on Etherscan and audited by CertiK.
At the center is Wadoozie himself: a returning signal that takes a character’s form, traveling the country by tour bus to “activate” each state as a node in a fractured cultural network the mythology calls The Feed. The mission is structured as eight narrative Acts opening with the Austin Flagship and closing back in New Orleans, with seven Flagship cities — Austin, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, NYC, Miami, and Nashville — anchoring the arc across roughly four and a half months. After the 48 states wrap, the network expands to Europe.
About Our Guests
Mr. Wadoozie is the Senior Internet Architect Engineer of Software on the project, with more than a decade of experience in the cryptocurrency industry. He sits at the center of the mission — the returning signal that takes a character’s form, traveling the country by tour bus to activate each U.S. state as a node in a fractured cultural network the mythology calls The Feed.
Tay is the Operations Manager at Wadoozie, with a background in marketing and management and prior operations experience across multiple crypto projects. Tay runs the @wadoozie X account and sets the public voice of the mission as the network activates one state at a time. On this episode Tay represents the operational side of the project — the people moving the bus, dropping the Signal Fragments, and building out the Publishers Network across the 48-state route.
To learn more about the project visit Wadoozie.com, and follow the team on X, Telegram or Discord.
The Bitcoin.com News podcast features interviews with the most interesting leaders, founders and investors in the world of Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance ( DeFi), NFTs and the Metaverse. Follow us on iTunes or Spotify.
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Crypto
EU Reconsiders MiCA Regulation as Crypto Evolves | PYMNTS.com
European regulators want to know if their 2024 cryptocurrency regulations still apply to the 2026 crypto landscape.
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