Spain’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bit2Me, has created a new company to help courts, police agencies and financial institutions track, seize, store and sell cryptocurrency connected to criminal investigations.
The new company, called Bit2Shield, has been registered as CryptoShield S.L. It will provide services from the moment investigators find digital assets until authorities decide to sell them.
Bit2Shield will help investigators examine crypto wallets, identify and locate digital assets and prepare digitally signed reports that can be used in court. Its work will also include fraud investigations, checking the source of funds and training police officers, judges and financial institutions.
Bit2Me was already providing similar services to government agencies before creating the new company. During 2025, it processed about €1.5 million ($1.74 million) in seized cryptocurrency for agencies including Interpol, Europol and Spanish police.
Chainalysis was used to track the assets, while Bit2Me handled the conversion of the cryptocurrency into euros for the government.
After cryptocurrency is seized, Bit2Shield will arrange for it to be stored in cold wallets protected by multiple signatures. The assets can remain there until the relevant authority gives instructions on what should happen next.
If a court orders the cryptocurrency to be sold, Bit2Shield will manage the process. The actual conversion from crypto into euros will be handled by Bitcoinforme S.L., a Bit2Me company authorized in Spain under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets rules.
Once the sale is completed, the money will be sent in euros to government bank accounts.
Bit2Me says Bit2Shield itself will not operate as a regulated crypto-asset service provider under MiCA because its main work involves investigations, digital forensics and training.
Regulated services involving the conversion of cryptocurrency into regular currency will remain with Bitcoinforme.
The move comes as European crypto companies face stricter regulatory requirements under MiCA. The final stage of the EU’s transition period ended on July 1. At that point, only 281 of 1,343 crypto service providers operating across the European Economic Area had received MiCA authorization.
Bit2Me has also been building stronger ties with traditional financial institutions.
In June, Spanish banking group Cecabank launched a regulated crypto platform for financial institutions. Cecabank handles custody and banking infrastructure, while Bit2Me provides trading, liquidity and market access.
Renta 4 Banco became one of the first financial institutions to use the platform as it worked on offering crypto trading services to its customers.
The project came from a partnership between Cecabank and Bit2Me that began in 2024. The companies later announced their MiCA-ready infrastructure in 2025 while waiting for regulatory approval.
Cecabank has since started the process of extending its authorized crypto services into Ireland, Portugal and Luxembourg.
Bit2Me is backed by companies from both the banking and cryptocurrency industries. Tether bought a minority stake in the exchange in 2025 and led a €30 million funding round aimed at helping Bit2Me expand across Europe and Latin America.
Bankinter, Unicaja, Cecabank and Telefónica are also among the companies that have invested in or supported Bit2Me.
Bit2Shield is entering a growing market as law enforcement agencies increasingly need specialized help after cryptocurrency is seized.
South Korea’s National Police Agency recently awarded Dunamu, the company behind Upbit, a one-year contract to store seized cryptocurrency. The assets will be kept in offline cold wallets with separate security measures for different types of digital assets.
Spanish authorities have faced similar challenges. In April, Spanish National Police seized around €400,000 worth of cryptocurrency stored in two cold wallets during an investigation into a manga piracy operation in Almería.
The wallets were reportedly hidden inside a wall-mounted thermometer. Authorities said the piracy platform had operated for about a decade and generated more than €4 million in advertising revenue since 2014. Three people were arrested.
Blockchain tracking can remain useful even after investigators recover cryptocurrency because transactions on public networks can often be followed from one wallet to another.
Chainalysis said in August that investigators can track funds even when cryptocurrency is stolen physically. Its research found more than $30 million in cryptocurrency stolen through kidnappings, home invasions and other violent attacks during the first half of 2026.
In another investigation, Chainalysis traced 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses and digital identifiers connected to more than 100 child sexual abuse material platforms, forums and distribution networks. The investigation produced 14,300 leads and identified more than 7,700 suspect accounts across exchanges and payment platforms.
Bit2Shield’s investigative work will be led by Adrián Maroño, a former member of Spain’s Civil Guard Central Operational Unit, known as UCO.
His role will cover forensic investigations and other work carried out for courts, law enforcement agencies and financial institutions.
The launch of Bit2Shield shows how cryptocurrency investigations are becoming a more specialized part of law enforcement. As authorities seize more digital assets, they also need secure ways to track, store and eventually sell them while maintaining a clear record that can stand up in court.
