Looking back on the past, I can't help but feel a lot of emotion. This large-scale operation by South Australian police reminds me of the chaos in the early days of Bitcoin. At that time, regulation was still a distant concept, and the market was filled with various gray-area transactions. Now, seeing law enforcement agencies able to trace and seize nearly $38 million in crypto assets, I have to say that both technology and legal frameworks have made significant progress.

Especially noteworthy is that in this operation, the FBI collaborated with Australian authorities to use encrypted applications to gather intelligence, and the High Court even allowed this information to be used as evidence. This cross-border cooperation to combat crime makes me think of the case of Silk Road being shut down in 2013. Back then, multiple law enforcement agencies worked together and successfully dismantled the dark web marketplace.

History tends to repeat itself, but each repetition brings new changes. From single-country crackdowns to international cooperation, from simple seizure to utilizing high-tech methods, law enforcement capabilities are keeping pace with the times. For us veterans who have witnessed the entire development of cryptocurrency, this is both a comfort and a warning. Compliance is the trend, and any project that tries to operate in the gray area will ultimately find it hard to escape the reach of the law.

Looking ahead, I believe the crypto industry will face even stricter regulation. But this may not be a bad thing; perhaps the improvement of regulation is what will truly help this industry mature. After all, only projects that grow in the sunlight can gain broader recognition and application.