J5 “Cyber Challenge” unites global tax enforcers against criminals exploiting cryptocurrency and the dark web

2025 event focuses on joint operations and international collaboration to disrupt global tax and financial crimes

WASHINGTON – The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) will bring investigators, cryptocurrency experts, and financial intelligence units (FIUs) together in Zwolle, Netherlands, the week of September 15, for the seventh annual Cyber Challenge. Hosted by the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD), the five-day event will launch new international investigations aimed at dismantling criminal tax and financial networks operating across borders. 

This year’s Challenge will address three main areas of concern: darknet markets and illicit cryptocurrency activity, transnational organized crime groups, and identity-based fraud schemes. Unlike past years, which emphasized the development of new leads, the 2025 Challenge will focus on joint operations with immediate real-world impact. 

Real-world results

The Cyber Challenge has already produced some of the world’s most significant financial crime investigations, including:

• OmegaPro – an international foreign exchange and cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victim investors of over $650 million.
• SafeMoon– the CEO of digital asset company SafeMoon was found guilty in a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency scam.
• Decentralized finance thefts – a Canadian national was charged with stealing approximately $65 million in cryptocurrency from the KyberSwap and Indexed Finance decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

These cases demonstrate how J5 intelligence efforts are converted into arrests, charges, and disruptions of major financial crime schemes.

Building momentum

Since the first Challenge in 2018, the J5 has sharpened its focus each year. Initial events concentrated on darknet markets and unregistered virtual asset service providers, while subsequent years tackled vulnerabilities in fintech companies, the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized exchanges, and the growing use of over-the-counter desks, cryptocurrency payment platforms, and online casinos. The recent inclusion of FIUs and private-sector Blockchain firms in the J5 Cyber Challenge has expanded both reach and impact, creating a global enforcement network that continues to deliver results.

About the J5

The J5 is a collaboration of five countries working together to lead the fight against international and transnational tax crime and money laundering. The alliance brings together the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division in the United States. By sharing intelligence, conducting coordinated operations, and leveraging advanced technology, this global task force has built a track record of uncovering schemes that would be nearly impossible for a single country to dismantle alone.

For more information about the J5, visit www.j5alliance.global.