Recoveris executive warns AI is widening the gap between crypto criminals and law enforcement

Recoveris executive Sol Cinosi warned that artificial intelligence is rapidly increasing the scale and sophistication of crypto-enabled fraud while some jurisdictions still bar investigators from using the same class of tools. Speaking during a BeInCrypto Market Intelligence Committee discussion on crypto crime, Cinosi said criminals are already using AI every day to clone voices, write phishing emails, and expand scam operations. He added that older ways of spotting phishing attempts, such as checking for grammar mistakes, no longer hold up because AI-generated messages have become far more convincing. The warning lines up with figures cited from Chainalysis’ 2026 Crypto Crime Report. The report estimates that crypto scams caused $17 billion in losses in 2025. It also found that scam operations with on-chain links to AI providers earned an average of $3.2 million per operation, which is 4.5 times the average for operations without those links. Europol’s IOCTA 2026 report described the problem as a "speed gap" and said law enforcement needs technology to close it. Cinosi argued that AI could help investigators process large volumes of data, detect patterns and connections faster, and leave human teams to focus on judgment-heavy and critical decisions.