- CipherTrace publishes guidance on how to detect illegal crypto usage.
- There has been a decline in cash seizure, which suggests that criminals might be laundering ill-gotten funds via crypto.
More like a guide, CipherTrace, a blockchain surveillance company, recently posted a concise report, informing law enforcement officers on how to detect signs of cryptocurrency usage. The blockchain company believes that criminals might be hiding records of illicit cryptocurrency transactions on mobile, desktop, and hardware wallet devices.
Criminals could be hiding via crypto
As CipherTrace explained in the report, there has been a significant decline in the percentage of cash being confiscated from criminals by law enforcement agencies. The United States Department of Treasury had issued a similar report saying that large seizure of cash from criminals has decreased for the past seven years.Â
The drop in cash confiscation doesn’t mean that criminals have dropped the illicit activities completely. However, CipherTrace opined that they might have switched to other methods to launder funds, which includes digital currencies. Automatically, it is a red flag that criminals use digital currencies to conceals and transfer ill-gotten funds.Â
However, it will be difficult for law enforcement officers to spot illicit cryptocurrency usage records if they do not know what to look out for. This is the essence of the guide, according to the blockchain company.
Old devices could be holding private keys
Among other things, CipherTrace informed law enforcement officers to thorough inspect seemingly non-functional, outdated, and even disconnected devices, as they could contain useful information, like private keys to accessing digital currency wallets. The blockchain company also listed several crypto apps, wallets, and hardware wallets, which the agencies should properly check.
The blockchain company has been actively providing financial institutions with useful information on cracking down on cryptocurrency transactions. Recently, it warned that financial institutions are operating with weak AML measures. As a result, more than 90 percent of suspicious crypto transactions passed their radar.Â
