Anchorage Digital faces scrutiny from US Homeland Security — Report

Update (April 14 at 10:37 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include Anchorage's response.

The US Department of Homeland Security's El Dorado Task Force has reportedly launched an investigation into Anchorage Digital Bank, a Wall Street-backed cryptocurrency firm. 

According to an April 14 Barron's report, members of the task force have contacted former employees of the company over the past weeks to examine its practices and policies. The report cites unidentified sources. 

The reported Homeland task force probe hints at cross-national financial activities. Established in 1992, the El Dorado Task Force focuses on “transnational money laundering” activities and financial crimes carried out by organizations. 

Anchorage is co-founded by Portuguese-American entrepreneur Diogo Mónica and Nathan McCauley, according to its website. Along with its US businesses, Anchorage has operations in Singapore and Portugal. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs and Visa, among others. 

In a statement to Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for Anchorage refuted the report. “The Barron’s piece on our company was based on speculation," they said, adding that “[Barron's] had no information about the nature of the inquiry nor its targets, both of which are currently unspecified. We will, of course, fully cooperate with any legitimate inquiry that materializes.”

Anchorage Digital is the only federally chartered crypto bank in the United States. It received its national trust bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in January 2021. 

Despite its advanced regulatory position, Anchorage Digital has faced regulatory challenges in the US. In April 2022, the OCC issued a consent order against the bank for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs. At the time, the company was ordered to establish a committee to address the alleged issues under the oversight of the OCC.

Anchorage was founded in 2017, and since then has been expanding its crypto footprint with services for institutional clients. The company is a custodian of BlackRock's Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) alongside Coinbase and BitGo. BlackRock's BTC funds have attracted over $35.5 billion in cumulative inflows since its launch in January 2024. 

Another of Anchorage's clients is Cantor Fitzgerald. The company has offered custody and collateral management for Cantor's Bitcoin holdings since March 2025. Anchorage reported over $50 billion in assets under management in 2024. 

Among Anchorage's custody competitors are players such as Ripple, Kraken, Taurus and Fireblocks, but the storage of digital assets has also attracted traditional financial institutions to the crypto field. HSBC, Citi and BNY Mellon — America's oldest bank — are also competing to safeguard crypto assets for institutional clients. 

According to Fireblocks’ Adam Levine, senior vice president of corporate development, the US market lacks qualified custodians for digital assets. "[...] there are limited options for certain market participants to keep their digital assets in safe keeping via a qualified custodian,” Levine told Cointelegraph in a previous interview.

A 2025 survey by EY reveals that 59% of institutional investors plan to allocate over 5% of their assets under management to cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing demand for institutional-grade custody services.

Institutional investors are expected to increase crypto allocations in 2025. Source: EY

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered