ACAMS and Chainalysis expand crypto crime training as scam losses hit $17B

ACAMS and Chainalysis have expanded their crypto financial crime training program after Chainalysis estimated that scams and fraud stole $17 billion in cryptocurrency during 2025.

Summary

• $17 billion in crypto scam and fraud losses were estimated by Chainalysis for 2025.
• 79% of surveyed AFC professionals identified crypto and digital assets as their biggest knowledge gap.
• Four courses will cover blockchain technology, financial crime risks, compliance programs, and investigative case studies.
• Nov. 19, 2026, is the scheduled launch date for the redesigned certification, now available for pre-sale.

ACAMS said in its Oct. 8 announcement that its redesigned Certified Cryptoasset AFC Specialist certification will include Chainalysis content, making CCAS its first major certification to incorporate material from a global partner.

According to the announcement, the program will train professionals to investigate transactions, monitor activity, and assess crypto-related financial crime risks. ACAMS has opened pre-sales ahead of the Nov. 19 launch, when the new certification program will become available.

ACAMS crypto crime training adds four courses

Under the revised curriculum, ACAMS has updated its Cryptoassets and Blockchain course and added three courses covering financial crime risks and regulatory frameworks, crypto compliance programs, and investigative case studies.

With content contributed by Chainalysis, the updated blockchain course forms part of a program that ACAMS says incorporates recent regulatory developments, emerging criminal methods and industry trends.

For practical work, ACAMS said participants will complete case studies and exercises involving blockchain investigations. The announcement also lists practice-focused online learning and an expanded 300-question practice exam to help candidates prepare for certification.

ACAMS identified a substantial training gap among its own conference participants. At The Assembly Las Vegas 2026, 79% of surveyed anti-financial crime professionals selected crypto and digital assets as their biggest training or knowledge gap, according to the organization.

The announcement presents the curriculum as training for professionals working across anti-money laundering, sanctions and fraud. ACAMS said their responsibilities increasingly include interpreting blockchain activity, following illicit funds and assessing exposure to criminal transactions.

"Staying ahead of financial crime requires practitioners to continually build new skills as threats and technologies evolve," ACAMS CEO Neil Sternthal said.

In describing the partnership, Sternthal said the organizations were training practitioners to "confront today's blockchain threats and anticipate what's coming next."

Chainalysis puts illicit crypto receipts at $154 billion

Beyond scam losses, the announcement cites Chainalysis estimates that identified illicit cryptocurrency addresses that received at least $154 billion during 2025. The firm attributed $17 billion in losses that year to crypto scams and fraud.

In its description of the threat, ACAMS pointed to sophisticated scams, international money laundering networks, and state-sponsored sanctions evasion. The organization said practitioners need both blockchain knowledge and tools capable of processing activity at the speed criminals operate.

As crypto.news reported on Aug. 7, Chainalysis also documented physical attacks against holders, estimating that successful kidnappings, hostage situations and home invasions extracted more than $30 million during the first half of 2026. According to the firm's report, the estimate covered publicly reported incidents and likely understated the total.

In the same research, Chainalysis said successful forced transfers leave blockchain records that investigators can examine. Its analysts described offenders who sent stolen assets directly to centralized exchanges, alongside more experienced operators who used bridges, decentralized exchanges and intermediary wallets before cashing out.

For online threats, Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin said criminals are using artificial intelligence to automate scams, create synthetic identities and move money between blockchains within seconds.

"The advantage the transparency of blockchains provides only matters if practitioners have the data, skills and tools to use it," Levin said.

According to Levin, compliance teams need tools that can identify and disrupt criminal activity at the same scale and pace as automated attacks.

Chainalysis investigations combine automation with human review

Recent reporting provides an example of the investigative work covered by the partnership. On Oct. 3, a report on the Bitget hack investigation described how Chainalysis used AI to reduce one transaction-matching task from more than 20 hours to under 10 minutes. The company said the task involved matching bridge deposits with payments on another blockchain after the Sept. 24 breach.

According to its account, investigators created custom automation while retaining control over the matching rules, reviewing results and deciding which leads to follow. The time savings applied to that part of the investigation, rather than the entire tracing process.

In following stolen XRP, Chainalysis said investigators identified transfers through a cross-chain liquidity protocol that paid out Bitcoin. The firm then traced subsequent transactions to Bitcoin addresses controlled by the attackers.

Through its data platform, Chainalysis said newly identified addresses received stolen-fund labels within minutes, making the findings available to compliance teams working with its blockchain intelligence.

U.S. stablecoin rules add specific compliance requirements

For American compliance professionals, Treasury has proposed separate anti-money laundering and sanctions requirements for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act.

In its April 8 announcement, Treasury said FinCEN and the Office of Foreign Assets Control had jointly proposed rules implementing the law's illicit-finance provisions. Treasury explained that the law directs it to treat permitted issuers as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act and impose anti-money laundering obligations.

Under the proposal, OFAC said permitted payment stablecoin issuers would also have to adopt and maintain effective sanctions compliance programs.

On Sept. 24, reporting on the FBI's crypto training forum detailed a San Antonio gathering of investigators, foreign law-enforcement partners and crypto specialists. Participant disclosures and accounts cited in that report described discussions on tracing illicit funds, scams, sanctions and North Korean activity.

According to the FBI figures cited in the report, its Internet Crime Complaint Center received 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints during 2025, with reported losses exceeding $11 billion. The bureau recorded more than $7.2 billion in cryptocurrency investment fraud losses within that total.

The FBI's figures measure complaints submitted to IC3, according to the report, and do not capture every cryptocurrency-related crime committed during the year.