A court order is a legal directive issued by a judge or court that authorizes a specific action. In asset recovery, it can permit investigators, trustees, or government agencies to seize, hold, transfer, or liquidate property that is tied to criminal proceedings. For cryptocurrency, that authority is especially important because once a transfer is signed on-chain, it is usually irreversible.
In cyber security, court orders matter because they define who is allowed to control seized digital assets and under what conditions. They support custody controls, audit trails, and separation of duties by making each wallet movement traceable to a legal approval. Defenders use them to move confiscated crypto into secure official wallets or to preserve evidence. Attackers may try to abuse weak approval workflows, stolen credentials, or unclear authority around seized funds, so the legal order must be matched by strong technical controls and logging.