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Chainalysis Wants to Help the Feds Sell Millions in Forfeited Bitcoin
The new service launch comes just one week after U.S. federal agents announced the seizure of over $1 billion in bitcoin.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:30 a.m. Published Nov 12, 2020, 1:00 p.m.
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Chainalysis is preparing to help its governmental clients sell the same trove of forfeited cryptocurrencies the blockchain tracing company often assists in tracking down.
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- On Thursday, Chainalysis unveiled a program for storing and selling forfeited crypto in partnership with confiscated asset consultancy Asset Reality.
- The program will likely cater to many of the same government clients that already pay Chainalysis millions of dollars annually to help trace illicit crypto transactions.
- Those investigations sometimes lead to agencies taking possession of eye-popping crypto sums. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it seized over $1 billion in bitcoin that Chainalysis software traced back to Silk Road.
- DOJ agencies unload their crypto on the public through semi-regular forfeiture auctions. These sales can raise tens of millions of dollars for the government.
- But the U.S. Marshals Service, which runs those auctions, has been asking since April for a private-sector partner to help it manage and dispose of forfeited cryptocurrency.
- Chainalysis representatives did not immediately confirm if its new partnership with Asset Reality was in response to the U.S. Marshals’ request.
Read more: US Seized More Than $1B in Silk Road–Linked Bitcoins, Seeks Forfeiture
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