A branch of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DoHS) is researching the possibility of using blockchain forensic analysis tools to better trace privacy coin transactions.
Privacy No More: US Government Preparing Forensic Analysis Tools
Among the biggest concerns surrounding cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are fears that the emerging technology could facilitate money laundering by rogue countries, terrorist organizations, and cybercriminals.
However, the United States government has increasingly bolstered their ability to trace blockchain transactions, and have even learned how to track Bitcoin transactions back to the source and identify the wallet holder, as was the recent case where the U.S. Treasury sanctioned two men from Iran over their involvement in ransomware attacks.
Related Reading: Iran Is Prepping National Crypto to Evade US Sanctions
Next on the government’s agenda, is to begin looking into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, such as Dash, Zcash, Monero, and more.
According to a pre-solicitation document published by the DoHS’s Small Business Innovation Research Program. The document, discovered by The Block, the U.S. government is allegedly investigating ways to better track transactions on the blockchains of the aforementioned privacy coins.
The report does speak positively about some of the aspects of privacy coins, but calls attention to transactions of “illegal nature” that occur using said cryptocurrencies. The eventual goal is to build out a platform that law enforcement agencies, government branches, and even private financial institutions can use to analyze and enforce important anti-money laundering laws.
Since the document is just a pre-solicitation, the notice is “merely an opportunity for interested parties to comment on or request information about the attached topic areas,” and doesn’t mean that the government already has such tools in its possession. It does, however, prove that the DoHS has concerns over privacy coins and their potentially illegal usage.
Japan Bans Privacy Coins, Will the United States Follow?
Zcash, Dash, Monero, and many other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies allow users to hide transaction and address data from anyone outside of the sender and receiver.
Monero is the cryptocurrency of choice for most cryptojackers as cybercriminals are able to easily hide their tracks. Monero has also unseated Bitcoin as the most-used cryptocurrency on the dark web, so it’s no surprise to see that the United States is joining Japan in addressing concerns around privacy coins.
Related Reading: Japan’s FSA Grants Self-Regulatory Status to Crypto Industry
In Japan, where cryptocurrency-related theft has skyrocketed, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has imposed a ban against any cryptocurrency exchanges in the country from offering privacy coins. The ban took effect this past June, and the ripple effect is just now reaching the United States.
Coincheck, which suffered the largest cryptocurrency exchange hack in history at the start of this year, was among the exchanges that were forced to comply with the FSA’s ban, and removed Monero, Dash, Zcash, and Augur’s Reputation coin.
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