Spain’s Bit2Me launches crypto seizure and forensic unit Bit2Shield

Spain’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bit2Me has launched a separate company to help courts, police and financial institutions trace, seize, store and liquidate cryptocurrency linked to investigations.

According to a statement from Bit2Me, the new unit, Bit2Shield, has been legally registered as CryptoShield S.L. and will provide forensic and operational services covering digital assets from the point they are identified during an investigation through their eventual sale when ordered by authorities.

The company will assist investigators during searches and seizures by extracting information from wallets, locating cryptocurrency and preparing digitally signed forensic reports that can be submitted in court. Its work will extend to fraud investigations, source-of-funds certification and training for police officers, judges and financial institutions.

Bit2Shield formalizes services that Bit2Me had already been providing to government agencies. During 2025, the exchange processed €1.5 million ($1.74 million) in seized cryptocurrency for authorities including Interpol, Europol and Spanish police, according to the company.

Blockchain analytics provider Chainalysis was used to trace the assets before Bit2Me converted the cryptocurrency into euros for the state.

Bit2Shield will manage crypto from seizure to sale

Once digital assets have been located and seized, Bit2Shield will arrange their storage in cold wallets protected by a multi-signature setup, Bit2Me said. The assets can remain under custody until authorities issue instructions for their disposal.

When a court or another competent authority orders a sale, Bit2Shield will coordinate the process, while the actual crypto-to-euro conversion will be carried out through Bitcoinforme S.L., Bit2Me’s entity authorized by Spain’s securities regulator under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework.

Proceeds from the sale will then be transferred in euros to government bank accounts.

Bit2Me said Bit2Shield itself is not a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA because its activities center on investigations, digital forensics and training. Services that fall under the regulated conversion of cryptocurrency into fiat will remain with Bitcoinforme.

The distinction comes after the EU completed the final stage of its MiCA transition period on July 1. As crypto.news previously reported, only 281 of 1,343 crypto service providers operating across the European Economic Area had secured MiCA authorization by the deadline, leaving 1,062 without approval.

An Aug. 5 review of ESMA authorization data found that the regulator’s interim register is updated weekly and covers regulated activities including custody, crypto-to-fiat exchange, trading platforms, transfers, order execution and portfolio management. The data has since been made available through a searchable MiCA tracker for firms and compliance teams.

Bit2Me has expanded its work with banks

The new forensic unit follows Bit2Me’s expansion into infrastructure used by traditional financial institutions, alongside its retail cryptocurrency exchange business.

In June, Spanish banking group Cecabank launched a regulated crypto platform for financial institutions after securing authorization for crypto custody, transfers and the reception and transmission of orders.

Bit2Me handles trade execution, liquidity, market access and the exchange layer under that arrangement, while Cecabank provides institutional custody and banking infrastructure. Renta 4 Banco became one of the first financial institutions to use the platform as it developed crypto trading services for clients.

The project grew out of a partnership established in May 2024. The two companies initially announced the MiCA-ready infrastructure in May 2025 while they were waiting for regulatory approval, with Bit2Me assigned responsibility for trading and market access.

Cecabank later began the European passporting process to extend its authorized crypto services into Ireland, Portugal and Luxembourg.

Bit2Me’s shareholders and financial backers include companies from both banking and crypto. Tether acquired a minority interest in the Spanish exchange in 2025 and led a €30 million funding round intended to support its expansion in Europe and Latin America. The Tether investment followed Bit2Me’s receipt of authorization under MiCA, allowing it to operate across EU member states.

Bankinter, Unicaja, Cecabank and Telefónica are among the other companies that have backed Bit2Me.

Crypto seizures require specialized custody

Bit2Shield is entering a field where police agencies have increasingly turned to specialized crypto companies to manage digital assets after seizure.

South Korea’s National Police Agency, for example, awarded Upbit operator Dunamu a one-year contract in August to custody seized cryptocurrency after a public tender. Under that arrangement, confiscated assets are stored through Upbit Custody using offline cold wallets, with separate wallets for different types of assets and security based on multi-party computation, distributed key generation and multi-signature technology.

Spanish authorities have faced the same operational issue when cryptocurrency is recovered during criminal investigations. In April, National Police officers seized approximately €400,000 in crypto held in two cold wallets during an investigation into a manga piracy operation in Almería. The cold wallets were concealed inside a wall-mounted thermometer, according to police.

The case involved a Spanish-language manga piracy platform that authorities said had operated for roughly a decade and generated more than €4 million in advertising revenue since 2014. Three people were arrested during the operation.

Blockchain tracing can remain useful after investigators identify or recover digital assets because transactions leave records that can be followed across public networks. Chainalysis said in August that investigators can trace funds even in cases involving physical cryptocurrency theft, while its research documented more than $30 million stolen through successful kidnappings, home invasions and other violent attacks during the first half of 2026.

In a separate investigation disclosed in August, Chainalysis traced 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses and digital identifiers connected to more than 100 child sexual abuse material platforms, forums and distribution networks. The work generated 14,300 investigative leads and identified more than 7,700 suspect accounts across cryptocurrency exchanges and payment platforms.

Bit2Shield’s investigations will be led by Adrián Maroño, a former member of the Spanish Civil Guard’s Central Operational Unit, known as UCO. His responsibilities will cover the forensic and investigative work carried out by the new company for courts, law enforcement agencies and financial institutions.