REGULATORY ADVISORY
Digital asset recovery for institutional clients facing loss, theft, or fraud.
Aethemis combines blockchain investigations, legal strategy, and enforcement-grade experience to trace, freeze, and recover stolen crypto assets. Our team includes former federal prosecutors, asset forfeiture specialists, and blockchain forensic experts who have led recovery matters across U.S. and international jurisdictions.
UNITED STATES
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EUROPEAN UNION
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UNITED KINGDOM
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HONG KONG
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SINGAPORE
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UNITED STATES - EUROPEAN UNION - UNITED KINGDOM - HONG KONG - SINGAPORE -
THE PROBLEM AETHEMIS SOLVES
When digital assets are lost, the approach decides the outcome.
Asset recovery in digital asset matters is unlike any other recovery context. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology means crypto assets can move across chains and accounts in minutes. Threat actors use mixers, bridges, and cross-chain swaps to break the audit trail, conduct rapid laundering, and place stolen funds beyond easy reach.
Centralized crypto exchange touchpoints offer the best chance of freezing assets and pursuing recovery, but only if the right legal mechanism and the right blockchain data are in place before the funds move again.
Tracing has to happen alongside legal action. Exchange communications have to happen alongside evidence preservation. Cross-border coordination has to happen alongside domestic litigation. The first step has to be the right step, because in most cases, the second window for recovery is significantly narrower than the first.
Most firms can do one of these well. Few can do all of them simultaneously.
Aethemis was built for this work. We integrate legal counsel, blockchain forensic capability, and enforcement-grade investigative experience into a single coordinated team. The same people who trace the assets across wallets and accounts build the legal record, engage the exchanges, secure the court orders, and pursue recovery through to resolution.
One team. One strategy. One window.
WHAT WE DO
How we work with institutional clients
Recovery engagements typically fall into one of six service areas. Most clients work with us across several, often simultaneously, because the legal complexities of digital asset matters rarely sit cleanly in a single discipline.
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Blockchain investigations and asset tracing
We trace stolen, lost, or misappropriated crypto assets across blockchains using transaction graph analysis, wallet attribution, and beneficial ownership tracing. Our forensic experts work the blockchain data from the first wallet hop to final attribution, identifying threat actors, downstream recipients, and the exchanges or other entities holding the assets.
Every investigation is built to evidentiary standard so the work supports court orders, arbitration, and law enforcement coordination. We preserve chain-of-custody from the outset because tracing that cannot be verified in court is tracing that cannot recover assets.
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Exchange engagement and emergency freezes
We engage centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians directly to freeze assets that have moved to identifiable infrastructure. This includes verifying the attribution, securing the legal basis for the freeze, preserving evidence at the exchange level, and managing communications with exchange compliance and legal teams.
Speed matters. Our team has working relationships with the major global exchanges and knows how to move quickly when the window is short. The difference between recovery and impossible recovery is often measured in hours, not days.
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Civil litigation and emergency relief
We support institutional clients through civil recovery proceedings, including temporary restraining orders, Mareva injunctions, freezing orders, disclosure orders against exchanges, and constructive trust claims. Each tool is selected based on the jurisdiction, the asset profile, and the speed required.
Our litigation work is led by attorneys who have run these matters before, paired with forensic experts who can deliver evidence in a form courts will accept.
We protect client position from emergency relief through to final judgment and enforcement.
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Cross-border recovery coordination
For matters spanning multiple jurisdictions, we coordinate U.S., EU, UK, and APAC recovery actions into a single coherent strategy. This includes parallel court orders, coordinated exchange engagement, law enforcement liaison across borders, and the legal infrastructure to convert tracing into recoverable assets in each market.
Multi-jurisdiction recovery is a default capability at Aethemis, not an upsell. Most institutional digital asset recovery matters touch more than one jurisdiction within the first week.
PRACTICE LEAD
LED BY YOULI LEE, FOUNDER
Aethemis's digital asset recovery practice is led by Youli Lee, the firm's founder. Youli brings federal enforcement and prosecutorial experience to recovery matters, with a focus on cross-border, multi-jurisdictional engagements where legal strategy and investigative conduct must run in parallel.
She leads engagements directly for institutional clients facing high-stakes recovery questions, supported by a team of attorneys, asset forfeiture specialists, and blockchain forensic experts.
Our Team
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![Arvind K. Lal]()
Arvind K. Lal
Principal | Legal & Advisory
Former Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office for D.C., where he led financial crime and national security investigations spanning terrorism financing, sanctions evasion, and cryptocurrency-enabled crime. Most recently served as Associate General Counsel for Global Investigations, Governance, and Litigation at Chainalysis. Casework includes Welcome to Video, Bitcoin Fog, Payza, and 1Broker. -
![Dan Curtin]()
Dan Curtin
Principal | Legal & Advisory
Spent nearly a decade at Coinbase building the company's anti-fraud, AML compliance, and Global Intelligence functions from the ground up, leading the team that managed Coinbase's engagement with U.S. law enforcement on the industry's most complex investigations. Currently serves as DeFi Compliance Expert and Independent Compliance Monitor for Binance Holdings on behalf of the Department of Justice. Former member of the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Investigations Advisory Board. -
![Iqbal "Iggy" Azad]()
Iqbal "Iggy" Azad
Principal | Advisory
Twenty years at Scotland Yard with the Metropolitan Police, including the National Cyber Crime Unit, where he investigated illicit cryptocurrency use from 2014 onwards. Most recently Senior Director of Global Intelligence at Coinbase, leading investigations into fraud, money laundering, and terrorist financing across the platform. Board member and cryptocurrency subject matter expert at ACAMS UK Chapter, where he has developed crypto qualifications shaping the AML profession.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Who we advise
Our recovery work serves institutional clients navigating digital asset loss, theft, or fraud at meaningful scale, typically matters involving millions of dollars in stolen or misappropriated assets, complex counterparty entities, or cross-border legal exposure.
Funds and family offices
GPs, LPs, and family office principals facing portfolio company collapse, custody loss, or fraud-related asset misappropriation. Often matters involving sophisticated investors with concentrated exposure.
Corporate counsel and in-house teams
GCs and in-house legal teams responding to internal theft, external attack, or post-incident recovery needs. Frequently matters involving compromised accounts, exposed private keys, or breached seed phrase infrastructure.
Insurers and incident response counsel
Insurance carriers and breach counsel coordinating recovery work alongside claims and incident response, particularly for ransomware and cyber theft matters.
Insolvency practitioners and creditor committees
IPs, trustees, and creditor committees facing digital asset questions inside formal insolvency proceedings, including identifying and pursuing recovery of estate assets.
WHY AETHEMIS
Why institutional clients choose Aethemis for recovery
Senior-led, federal experience.
Engagements are led directly by senior attorneys with federal prosecutorial and asset forfeiture experience. The people who run the matter are the people who have run these matters before. No junior hand-offs.
Cross-border by default.
Most institutional digital asset recovery matters touch more than one jurisdiction within the first week. We coordinate U.S., EU, UK, and APAC recovery actions under a single engagement.
Investigative depth in-house.
Recovery is not a single-discipline problem. We integrate legal, forensic, and investigative expertise on one team, so tracing, legal strategy, exchange communications, and law enforcement coordination run in parallel, not in sequence.
Practical, fast, and commercially aware.
THE LEGAL AND INVESTIGATIVE TOOLS WE USE
The legal and investigative tools we deploy
Aethemis combines a wide range of legal mechanisms and investigative tools in recovery matters. The specific combination depends on the facts, the jurisdiction, the entities involved, and the speed required.
Investigative tools
Transaction graph analysis · Wallet attribution · Beneficial ownership tracing · Asset provenance analysis · Chain-of-custody evidence preservation · Cross-chain and mixer analysis · Smart contract analysis · Exchange compliance liaison · Blockchain data verification
Legal mechanisms
Temporary restraining orders (TROs) · Mareva injunctions and freezing orders · Disclosure orders against exchanges · Constructive trust claims · Civil forfeiture coordination · Cross-border recognition and enforcement · Coordination with law enforcement agencies and authorities
ENGAGEMENT MODELS
How engagements work
Recovery matters move quickly, so engagement structures are designed for speed.
Emergency response engagements for matters where immediate action is required. We can mobilize a team within hours of initial contact, with tracing, exchange communications, and legal action moving in parallel.
Project-based recovery engagements for defined matters where the scope is clear at the outset. Typically structured around a specific asset, incident, or counterparty.
Ongoing recovery and litigation support for clients managing multi-phase or extended recovery matters, including civil proceedings, parallel regulatory engagement, and coordinated cross-border action.
All engagements begin with an initial consultation to scope the matter, assess the recovery posture, identify the relevant entities and infrastructure, and define the team and strategy that fits.
FAQS
Frequently asked questions about digital asset recovery
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Digital asset recovery is the legal and investigative process of tracing, freezing, and recovering stolen, lost, or misappropriated crypto assets. It typically combines blockchain forensic analysis, exchange engagement, civil litigation, and cross-border legal coordination. Effective recovery requires speed, technical capability, and the legal mechanisms to convert tracing work into recoverable assets. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology means most cases require simultaneous legal and investigative action.
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Speed matters more in digital asset recovery than in almost any other recovery context. Funds can move across blockchains and through mixers within hours. The best opportunities to trace, verify, and freeze assets typically exist in the first 24 to 72 hours after the incident, when assets may still be at identifiable exchange touchpoints or in traceable wallets. Acting quickly preserves both the asset and the evidence needed to recover it. The first step is often the most important.
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In many institutional matters, yes, but the realistic recovery rate depends on the facts. Recovery is most achievable when assets have moved to identifiable centralized exchange infrastructure, when legal mechanisms can be deployed quickly, and when forensic evidence supports the chain-of-custody. Recovery is materially harder, and sometimes impossible, when assets have moved through mixers, privacy chains, or sanctioned jurisdictions before identification. We give clients a candid assessment of recovery posture at the initial consultation rather than overstating what's achievable.
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Blockchain investigations are the forensic and analytical work of tracing assets, attributing wallets, and reconstructing transaction flows from blockchain data. Digital asset recovery is the broader practice of using that investigative work, alongside legal mechanisms, exchange communications, and law enforcement coordination, to actually freeze and recover the assets. Investigations alone do not recover assets, they support the recovery process by identifying who holds the funds and where.
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Where appropriate, yes. Our team includes former federal prosecutors and asset forfeiture specialists who work alongside law enforcement agencies when criminal conduct or forfeiture intersects with civil recovery. We coordinate carefully to support clients' civil recovery objectives without compromising parallel criminal matters or law enforcement strategy.
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Pig butchering is the dominant 2024-2025 investment fraud typology, often involving substantial losses from sophisticated investors and family offices, sometimes running into millions of dollars per matter. Recovery in these matters typically requires fast tracing across multiple wallets and chains, coordinated exchange engagement, identification of downstream recipient entities, and civil litigation against identifiable counterparties. We work with institutional clients impacted by these schemes, not retail consumers.
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No. Aethemis works with institutional clients — funds, family offices, corporate counsel, insurers, insolvency practitioners, and businesses. Retail consumer matters fall outside the firm's practice. For consumer-scale matters, we recommend contacting your local law enforcement and consumer protection authority.
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Crypto asset recovery covers a broad range of disputes involving lost or stolen assets, including external theft, internal misappropriation, fraud-related loss, and post-incident recovery of funds that have moved beyond client control. Common scenarios include crypto fraud and investment scheme losses, exchange-related crypto theft, compromised wallet matters involving stolen cryptocurrency, custody failures resulting in lost funds, and disputes between counterparties over digital asset ownership or transfer. Lost cryptocurrency from inaccessible wallets or seed phrase issues is a related but distinct workstream, often involving forensic reconstruction rather than recovery from a third party. The right legal and investigative approach depends on how the assets were lost, who currently holds them, and what mechanisms are available to compel return.
Speak with a digital asset recovery advisor
If you are facing an active recovery matter or anticipating one, the conversation should happen now, not later. Every hour of delay narrows the recovery window.