Recovery casebook.

CASE 0001 · BROOKLYN INTAKE

$340K USDT — partial recovery, 41 days from intake to first wire.

A retired teacher walked into our office on Grand Street with screenshots from a platform calling itself a yield desk. The asset moved through three CEX deposit addresses and two mixer cycles before landing at a regulated venue we have a working relationship with. We packaged the trace report for compliance, coordinated the freeze, and saw the first restitution wire to the client’s recovery wallet in under six weeks.

CASE 0023 · CEX BREACH

$215K BTC — full recovery, 27 days.

A founder reached out after a treasury breach moved funds across two regulated venues. We mapped the path within 48 hours, briefed compliance teams at both exchanges with chain-of-custody documentation, and the funds were frozen and returned within four weeks. Restitution closed at 100% of the asset value.

CASE 0007 · OTC ROUTING

$1.2M ETH — civil action active, recovery in progress.

Family office referred the matter after their own counsel hit a wall. We mapped seventeen hops to an OTC cluster operating across three jurisdictions. The trace report is the centerpiece of the civil filing now active in two of those courts. Recovery work continues in coordination with the family’s litigation team.

CASE 0014 · MIXER WALL

$87K BTC — trail exhausted; honest report delivered.

Not every case ends in restitution. This one didn’t. The asset entered a high-volume mixer with no observable exit cluster. We told the client at day twelve and stopped the meter. The flat fee covered the trace report, which is now part of his insurance claim and a federal complaint package.

CASE 0031 · STATE AG REFERRAL

$78K USDC — recovery via state AG settlement.

Client referred from a state AG office after filing a consumer-protection complaint. We supplied the chain-of-custody trace, identified the regulated counterparty, and supported the AG’s civil settlement process. Funds returned to the client’s designated wallet within 90 days of intake.

FAST-TRACK RECOVERIES

Recoveries closed in 5 to 7 working days.

Not every engagement is a months-long civil action. When the funds are still inside a regulated venue, a chargeback window, or a withdrawal hold, speed is decisive. The following are anonymized engagements where the operational recovery action closed inside one working week of intake.

CASE 0046 · CHARGEBACK WINDOW

$18K USD — full chargeback returned in 4 working days.

Client funded a fake “AI trading desk” via Visa debit on a Monday. By Friday morning her bank had reversed every transaction. We packaged the trace report and broker corroboration the same afternoon she walked in, briefed her card issuer’s fraud team, and the chargebacks cleared on day four. The platform tried to contest — the evidence package made that impossible.

CASE 0052 · WITHDRAWAL HOLD

$94K USDT — withdrawal hold released in 6 working days.

The platform had locked the client’s balance behind a “tax verification” demand. Funds were still on the venue’s hot wallet. We pulled chain-of-custody, mapped the operator to its KYC’d payment processor, and escalated to that processor’s compliance team. The processor pulled the operator’s payout rails; the operator unfroze and wired the balance to the client’s exchange wallet six working days from intake.

CASE 0058 · COMPLIANCE FREEZE

$61K ETH — counterparty wallet frozen in 5 working days.

Funds were two hops from a US-regulated exchange when the client retained us. We mapped the cluster, prepared the chain-of-custody packet to the exchange’s compliance desk that same evening, and the destination wallet was frozen by day three. Restitution wire to the client’s recovery address followed two days later. Total: five working days from first call to received funds.

CASE 0061 · SEPA REVERSAL

£37K GBP — SEPA wire clawed back in 3 working days.

UK client wired GBP to a payment processor fronting a “wealth advisor” platform. We identified the receiving institution as a UK-regulated EMI within hours of intake, escalated to its anti-fraud team with the trace and a written narrative, and the wire was recalled and credited back to the client’s account on working day three.

CASE 0064 · FIAT GATEWAY

$26K USDC — on-ramp funds returned in 7 working days.

Client used a regulated US fiat on-ramp to buy USDC, then was social-engineered into sending it to a “verification wallet.” The on-ramp’s compliance team needed a verifiable trace report, a sworn statement, and a corroboration packet — all of which we built and delivered inside 48 hours. Funds were retrieved from the gateway’s reserve account and credited back on working day seven.

CLIENT VOICES

What our clients say.

Quotes published with explicit written consent. Names and identifying details redacted at the client’s request.

I’d already been ghosted by two recovery firms when I called Cryptosenti. They told me on the first call which parts of my story were recoverable and which weren’t. The chargeback hit my account four days later. No drama, no upsell.

M.A., Brooklyn NY — chargeback return, 4 working days

The trace report was what made the difference. My bank’s fraud team had been giving me the runaround for weeks. Cryptosenti’s packet was the first piece of evidence anyone took seriously.

S.R., Austin TX — domestic wire reversal

What I appreciated was the honesty. They told me on day twelve that the trail had gone cold and stopped the meter. No other firm I’d talked to was willing to do that.

D.K., London UK — trace exhausted, file closed honest

I walked in at ten in the morning with screenshots and walked out at one in the afternoon with a plan. The compliance team at the exchange where my funds had ended up got the trace packet that night. By the following Tuesday the wallet was frozen.

P.N., Toronto ON — counterparty wallet frozen, 5 working days

I was prepared to write off the money. Cryptosenti got me a partial wire inside the week and told me which parts to file with the FBI for the rest. That kind of clear-eyed help was worth ten times the fee.

L.H., Hartford CT — partial restitution + federal complaint package

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

How long does recovery actually take?

It depends entirely on where the funds are. If they’re still inside a regulated venue, a chargeback window, or a withdrawal hold, the operational recovery action can close in 3 to 7 working days. If they’ve moved through mixers or jurisdictions where we have no compliance relationship, recovery may take months — or may not be possible. We tell you which bucket your case is in inside the first 48 hours.

What does the intake fee cover?

A signed intake engagement covers (1) the full chain-of-custody trace, (2) a written investigative narrative suitable for compliance, regulators, and law enforcement, (3) outreach to regulated counterparties identified in the trace, and (4) a candid recovery feasibility assessment delivered inside the first two weeks.

Do you guarantee recovery?

No. Anyone who guarantees recovery in crypto fraud is lying. We guarantee an honest assessment, a defensible trace report, and a no-meter rule: if the trail goes cold, we tell you and stop billing.

What types of cases do you take?

Pig-butchering and romance investment schemes, fake yield-desk and AI-trading platforms, social-engineered wallet drains, OTC and broker-dealer fraud, treasury breaches, business email compromise where the wire was crypto-denominated, and chargeback windows on card- or bank-funded scams. We don’t take ransomware payments, hostile-divorce asset hunts, or any matter where the underlying transaction was itself illegal.

What happens after the trace report?

The report drives one of four outcomes: (1) compliance freeze and restitution at a regulated counterparty, (2) chargeback or wire reversal at the originating payment rail, (3) civil action with the report as evidentiary centerpiece, or (4) a closed file with the report attached to an insurance claim or federal complaint. We tell you which path your case is on before you commit to next-step fees.

Should I file with the police first?

File the report — yes, immediately. Don’t wait for it to drive recovery on its own. Most local agencies don’t have the capacity for on-chain investigations and won’t move quickly enough to preserve funds. Our intake runs in parallel; we provide the chain-of-custody packet you can attach to the report.

How much does it cost?

Intake and assessment is a flat fee disclosed before you sign. Trace work that follows is hourly, capped, and quoted in writing. Contingent fees on recovered funds, when they apply, are disclosed in the same engagement letter. We never take a case where the recovery economics don’t make sense for the client.

Will my case be public?

No. The casebook entries on this page are anonymized engagements published with the client’s written consent and identifying details removed. Your case stays confidential unless you choose otherwise.