- Source: Chainalysis
Chainalysis is an American blockchain analysis firm headquartered in New York City. The company was co-founded by Michael Gronager, Jan Møller and Jonathan Levin in 2014, and is the first start-up company dedicated to the business of Bitcoin tracing. It offers compliance and investigation software to analyze the blockchain public ledger, which is primarily used to track virtual currencies. Along with banks and brokers its customers have included the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, as well as the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency.
History
Chainalysis was formed to be the official investigator of the hack of cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox when Gronager was the COO of Kraken, which was then employed by the bankruptcy trustee for Mt. Gox to investigate the hack. The company was co-founded by Michael Gronager, Jan Møller and Jonathan Levin in 2014.
The company developed proprietary financial crime investigation software which monitors cryptocurrency's public ledger, forming the first full view of transactions on the blockchain.
In March 2021, it partnered with crypto compliance company Notabene to comply with the FATF's Travel Rule across jurisdictions. American business publication Fast Company referred to this partnership one of the top 10 most innovative joint ventures of 2022.
In May 2024, Chainalysis moved its regional headquarters for the Southern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa regions to Dubai.
Noted investigations
Chainalysis has helped law enforcement recover cryptocurrencies from illegal enterprises, including, in 2020, assisting law enforcement to recover over $1 billion from the take-down of the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
In October 2019, the company helped the United States Department of Justice shut down the world's then-largest child abuse website.
It also aided in the attribution of seven 2021 cryptocurrency thefts to the North Korean Lazarus Group.
Working with American investigators and the South Korean National Intelligence Service, the company tracked $100 million stolen from a California cryptocurrency firm Harmony to North Korean hackers, who have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency firms, funding its illegal missile program. $1 million of the stolen funds were recovered in April 2023.
See also
Bitcoin network#Criminal activity
Cryptocurrency and crime
References
Further reading
Greenberg, Andy (2022). Tracers In The Dark : The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency (1st ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-385-54809-0. OCLC 1298713583.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
External links
Official website