Digital Asset Crime Investigation Blockchain Analysis

In 2014, Bitcoin began to capture growing interest and the medium became widespread in just a few years, and the proliferation of these trading media prompted the change from the reference to cryptocurrencies to digital assets. Even though these assets are intangible, they have real value that naturally attracts criminal elements seeking to exploit any provider weaknesses. Since that time, criminals have sought to exploit any weaknesses or vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency resources, making the need to remain vigilant concerning ongoing trends particularly important.

In response to this growth in cryptocurrency usage, the Blockchain Intelligence Group was established as a software as service that uses sophisticated analyses to derisk or perform investigations of digital assets using a proprietary platform called “Criminal Schemes in the Digital Assets Space.” It is noteworthy that this company only provides reactive rather than proactive services, indicating that it only becomes involved in a scenario when a digital crime has already been committed rather than providing preventative services, underscoring the investigative value of its services.

The narrator, Robert Whitaker, explains that digital assets can be exploited for virtually any type of criminal activity occurring in digital settings, including terrorism, child exploitation, human trafficking, human smuggling, financial crimes, trade-based crimes (e.g., peer to peer trading) and narcotics enforcement. Although all of these crimes are serious and child exploitation as well as human trafficking and human smuggling are especially reprehensible, Whitaker points out that financial crimes represent the most common type of digital asset exploitation at present, but so-called “dark net” markets are still being used to deal in international narcotics.

In addition, Whitaker also emphasizes that digital assets have become firmly entrenched in domestic and international markets. These outcomes are attributable in part to the anonymity that digital assets afford users. While Whitaker notes that this is changing somewhat, this attribute remains a powerful draw for criminals seeking to evade identification. Using a “build-the-walls-higher” analogy, Whitaker cautions that criminals of all ilk will remain relentless in their efforts to exploit digital assets. These realities underscore the importance of a well-conducted investigation to identify as much information as possible concerning the perpetrators. Finally, Whitaker provides a description of the methods used for these purposes, and some include those such as ATMs which are used by ordinary consumers on a daily basis.