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Delaware DOJ Freezes Wallets, Accounts in 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scams
A total of 23 entities, including wallets, accounts and individuals, were traced in this version of a common crypto romance scam.
By Cam Thompson
Updated May 11, 2023, 3:36 p.m. Published Sep 29, 2022, 12:32 a.m.
Delaware law enforcement authorities have frozen accounts belonging to individuals involved in “pig butchering” scams, a version of an increasingly common crypto romance scam in which swindlers lure unsuspecting investors to send them their crypto holdings.
In a press release Wednesday, the state’s department of justice said the agency had issued a cease-and-desist order to 23 entities, including wallets, accounts and individuals.
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The announcement is part of a wider Delaware DOJ initiative to halt “pig butchering” crypto scams.
The agency urged investors to tread cautiously in online conversations about cryptocurrency transactions.
Crypto romance scams have been around for several years. They involve bad actors conversing with strangers online and instructing them to invest in crypto before siphoning off their funds. “Pig butchering” scams operate along similar principles with scammers convincing consumers to invest small amounts in crypto over time before siphoning these assets – fattening the pig before butchering it.
According to blockchain investigation agency Cipherblade, “billions” of dollars were stolen in these kinds of scams in 2021.
“Today’s order takes a first step toward protecting Delaware investors from the pig butchering scam by freezing funds at risk from further transfer by the wrongdoers,” Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in the press release.
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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