According to an industry survey conducted by Chainalysis, regulators and law enforcement that are investigating crypto-related incidents need better private data, training, and partnerships.
A public authority survey conducted by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis highlights the need for better tools, training and support for crypto-related investigations.
The blockchain data platform delved into this topic in the State of Cryptocurrency Investigations Survey 2022, with 74% of respondents saying their agencies are fully equipped to investigate crimes. related to cryptocurrencies.
Chainalysis polled approximately 300 respondents across 183 public sector agencies in the United States and Canada to address the challenges and successes of working in the field.
A large number of respondents indicated that cryptocurrencies are relevant to their investigations and that their respective agencies would do well to invest additional resources.
While cryptocurrencies are central to several investigations, most respondents agree that the space can positively promote the financial system and disagree with the suggestion that cryptocurrencies Death is mainly used by criminals.
Chainalysis noted the growth of legitimate crypto use outstrips the growth of criminal use. However, the rate of illegal use in US dollars is significant enough that the public sector should be willing to investigate.
Respondents also suggested that their agencies have investigators or analysts specializing in crypto-related investigations. The survey also indicated that many agencies do not use specialized blockchain analysis tools, and 74% of respondents believe their agency is not well equipped to investigate crypto-related crimes.
Chainalysis highlights this as a major issue in a constantly changing industry landscape, citing the recent shift from centralized services to more complex decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. and hard to investigate:
“If agencies don’t become adept at investigating cryptocurrencies by now, their knowledge gaps could widen, leaving them increasingly lagging behind crypto-mining criminals. frequent”.
The survey found that more than half of the 300 respondents experienced more than ten crypto-related cases in a year, while nearly 40% experienced more than 20 incidents. Phishing, fraud, drugs, cybercrime, and ransomware are the most commonly investigated crypto-related crimes.
Chainalysis highlights the need for reliable data powered by powerful blockchain analytics tools that enable simple and valuable data visualization. Cryptocurrency and blockchain analytics training was another point raised by respondents, while partnerships with the private sector can provide these tools and resources.
