Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis is launching a new program to help governments recover, store, and sell cryptoassets seized their operations, less than two weeks after the U.S. government seized over 69,000 BTC worth over $1 billion.
According to announcement Chainalysis published, the program could help government agencies and insolvency practitioners “handle, store, realize, and monitor seized assets.” Per the firm, government agencies and professionals who advise on insolvency matters need a “safe way to track, store, and ultimately sell seized cryptocurrency assets for fiat currency.
Chainalysis’s announcement adds that as law enforcement becomes more sophisticated in investigating illegal activity involving cryptocurrencies, the need for cryptoasset realization services grows.
Jason Bonds, Chief Revenue Officer at Chainalysis, said that as cryptos become more mainstream they will “increasingly be used by good and bad actors alike.” Bonds added:
Chainalysis is dedicated to building trust in digital assets, and that means helping to detect and investigate illicit activity. As our government partners become more successful in rooting out bad actors, assisting them with asset recovery and realization is a natural next step.
The announcement adds Chainalysis is partnering with Asset Reality, a firm that manages confiscated assets for clients in the public and private sector, to “help determine how to sell seized funds.”
The firm’s announcement came less than two weeks after it was revealed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seized over 69,000 BTC, worth over $1 billion, linked to the notorious darknet marketplace Silk Road. Chainalysis touted it helped the DOJ trace the funds, which were in an address belonging to “Individual X,” who is alleged to have hacked the funds from the Silk Road.
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