Italian Tax Evasion Case Reveals €1M+ Hidden via Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 Tokens

According to Chainalysis, on May 20 the firm published findings from an Italian tax evasion investigation that uncovered more than €1 million in undeclared capital gains generated through Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens. Investigators from Italy's Guardia di Finanza traced funds from a seized Ledger hardware wallet across multiple on-chain transactions, ultimately linking wallet activity to a real person. The suspect had minted assets, listed them for sale, and funneled profits back into a primary Bitcoin wallet while unlawfully receiving public subsidies.

Chainalysis emphasized that criminals increasingly exploit emerging digital asset classes to conceal wealth, but public blockchains leave permanent trails that expose such schemes. The firm noted that with proper blockchain intelligence tools, investigators can decode complex on-chain activity regardless of technological novelty.