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Moonstone Research Study Etches Doubts on Monero’s Privacy; Crypto Community Reacts
6.11.2023
On September 1, 2023, hackers made off with 2,675.73 monero (XMR), worth over $3 million at the time, from the Monero CCS donation wallet in nine separate transactions. Now, blockchain analysis firm Moonstone Research has traced forward through three of those transactions in a postmortem released...
What is Monero? A Brief History of the World’s Top Privacy Coin
11.9.2023
Monero currently occupies the foremost position among privacy cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. The following Learning and Insights explainer briefly delves into the origins and development of Monero (XMR), emphasizing its distinctive features, such as anonymous transactions...
Mastercard Debuts Blockchain Surveillance Tool for Banks and Crypto-Centric Card Issuers
4.10.2022
On Tuesday, the multinational financial services corporation Mastercard revealed that it is launching a new crypto monitoring product called Crypto Secure. The Crypto Secure software aims to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in order to help banks and crypto-centric debit card...
Elliptic Identifies ‘Several Hundred Thousand Crypto Addresses’ Tied to Russia-Based Sanctioned Actors
17.3.2022
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, blockchain surveillance companies have discussed and implemented ways to combat sanctioned countries from using digital assets. Last week, Chainalysis revealed screening tools for crypto firms that aim to comply with international sanctions. On Monday,...
Chainalysis Study Shows ‘Criminal Whales’ Hold $25B in Digital Assets, Entities Represent 3.7% of All Crypto Whales
24.2.2022
According to research published by Chainalysis, criminal entities hold more than $25 billion in cryptocurrencies. The blockchain intelligence firm’s study shows that there was a significant increase in crypto balances held by criminals in 2021 as the metric jumped by 266% since the year...
Journalist Claims She Identified the 2016 DAO Hacker, Evidence Shows Investigators ‘De-Mixed’ Wasabi Transactions
22.2.2022
An article published by journalist Laura Shin, and research stemming from the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis, claims to identify the alleged identity of The DAO hacker who drained millions of dollars worth of ethereum from the decentralized autonomous organization on June 17, 2016....
Chainalysis to Offer Lightning Network Monitoring Service to VASPs in 2022
11.12.2021
On December 10, the blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis revealed that the company has added support for Bitcoin’s second-layer protocol the Lightning Network (LN). According to Chainalysis, firms like exchanges and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) can leverage...
Payments Giant Mastercard Acquires Blockchain Intelligence Firm Ciphertrace
9.9.2021
Mastercard, the American multinational financial services corporation, announced the company is dipping further into the digital asset ecosystem by acquiring the blockchain intelligence firm Ciphertrace. The partnership announcement says the firm will help bolster Ciphertrace’s...
Blockchain Surveillance Firm Chainalysis Raises $100 Million, Company’s Valuation Now $4.2 Billion
26.6.2021
The blockchain intelligence and surveillance firm Chainalysis announced the company has raised $100 million in Series E funding from investors such as Coatue, Benchmark, Accel, Addition, Dragoneer, Sequoia Heritage, and SVB Capital. The financing brings the company’s valuation to $4.2 billion...
DOJ Seeks Trial Attorney With Extensive Blockchain and Crypto Knowledge
24.6.2021
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking a trial attorney to help with the federal executive agency’s Digital Currency Initiative. The DOJ posted a job listing on the justice.gov web portal and the hired individual is expected to serve as an “expert on digital currency...
Privacy-Centric Coins See Fresh Gains, Monero Captures All-Time Price High
9.5.2021
On May 7, the privacy-centric crypto asset monero captured an all-time high at $515 per unit, as demand for confidential transactions has increased in recent times. Monero has gained more than 190% during the last three months, while a number of other privacy coins like zcash, verge, horizen,...
Ciphertrace Allegedly Builds Monero-Tracing Tools, XMR Proponents Disagree
31.8.2020
The blockchain surveillance firm Ciphertrace claims to have created the “world’s first” monero tracing tools for law enforcement. According to the company announcement, Ciphertrace developed forensic tools for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to track...
Visualize Crypto Transaction Privacy Scores With Blockchair’s ‘Privacy-o-Meter’
29.6.2020
On June 24, the block explorer and blockchain data platform, Blockchair, announced the launch of a new privacy tool called the “Privacy-o-meter.” According to Blockchair, the new service combats blockchain surveillance companies by highlighting privacy issues for crypto transactions....
$9M and Over 4,500 Fusions – Bitcoin Cash Supporters Anticipate the Cashfusion Audit
27.5.2020
Since November 28, 2019, the Cashfusion protocol has helped facilitate 4,583 fusions to-date with roughly 40,564 bitcoin cash ($9.1M). Cashfusion is an extension of the Cashshuffle platform and the protocol has been deemed “far more practical than other coinjoin protocols.” Bitcoin Cash...
20 Blockchain Surveillance Firms Monitor Crypto Networks, But Some Apps Show Inaccuracies
16.5.2020
During the last few years, blockchain surveillance has increased a great deal and in the early days around 2013-14, there were only a handful of firms. Now there are more than 20 blockchain analysis companies that monitor addresses, transactions, and making sure addresses are AML/CFT compliant...
Merchant Services, Gambling, and Darknets: Coronavirus Economy Stunts Cryptocurrency Spending
3.4.2020
A lot has changed since the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe as it has caused a wide range of negative effects on the world’s economy. On March 30, the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis published a report that shows how the cryptoconomy is faring from merchant acceptance...
Tokyo Police Arrest 2 Men for Buying Cryptocurrency Tied to $530M Coincheck Hack
11.3.2020
Tokyo police arrested two individuals on Wednesday for acquiring stolen NEM from the 2018 Coincheck hack. On Jan. 26, 2018, the Japanese trading platform Coincheck noticed an “illicit transfer” of 523,000,000 NEM and it was the largest cryptocurrency exchange hack since Mt Gox....
How to Obscure Bitcoin Cash Transaction Data by Leveraging Cashfusion
24.1.2020
Bitcoin Cash developers recently released the alpha software for Cashfusion, a privacy-preserving feature added to the Electron Cash wallet. During the last week, crypto proponents and developers have been testing the protocol regularly in order to find issues and provide the Cashfusion team with...
UK Tax Agency to Pay $100K for Blockchain Surveillance Software
21.1.2020
On January 17, the UK tax agency Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published a job opportunity for a private contractor to design a cryptocurrency blockchain analysis tool. According to the listing, the contract is for one year and HMRC will pay the contractor $100,000 for software...
How Dropgangs and Dead Drops Are Transforming Darknet Practices
10.1.2020
Since the creation of the Silk Road, authorities have waged a war against the online drug trade with a wave of surveillance and enforcement. However, crypto-anarchists are developing new ways to evade the state’s tentacles as the next technological phase started to emerge in late 2017....