ChainArgos was privileged to have been selected by INTERPOL to provide blockchain intelligence training to law enforcement professionals from INTERPOL’s member agencies.

Entitled “Blockchain Intelligence Training for Crimefighters,” our General Counsel Patrick Tan delivered a highly interactive session that focused on developing critical thinking skills adding additional tools to a crimefighter’s existing capabilities, while also recognizing the limits of blockchain intelligence and the scope of their evidentiary value.

What struck us most was the openness to questioning the scientific basis and forensic integrity of the current state-of-art for blockchain analysis tools, and the recognition that we need to do better in terms of clearing evidentiary burdens.

The blockchain intelligence training saw law enforcement professionals unfamiliar with blockchain transactions gaining insight and understanding the challenges with submitting questionable attribution as evidence of illicit activity.

Despite the jargon and manufactured complexity of the crypto-asset and blockchain industry, key concepts were made accessible and understandable.

Using this simple illustration, law enforcement professionals were quick to learn how blockchain intelligence can enhance but never entirely replace existing investigative capabilities.

Instead of trying to find a single source of “truth” as to a transaction’s origins, trainees recognized the value of a “follow-the-money” approach centered on determining who a blockchain address deals with primarily over time.

The main issue with existing blockchain tracing methods is a focus on determining a single-source of crypto-assets. While this approach lines up well with existing systems and frameworks used by financial institutions, it does not map well to blockchain transactions, nor recognize the idiosyncrasies that complicate such simplistic attribution methods.

This issue isn’t as pronounced in the traditional financial system as banks are heavily regulated, licensed entities, and creating thousands of bank accounts in a short period of time is am impossibility.

However, it’s trivial and costs nothing to create a fresh blockchain address.

Anchoring bias has led to undesirable outcomes in the use of blockchain tracing because it assumes that a single-source of truth is a desirable outcome from an investigation, when in fact, more information can be gleaned by examining transaction history to determine a pattern of behavior, consistent with the actual value of transfer.

Fortunately, law enforcement professionals are alive to the challenges facing blockchain intelligence.

By appreciating the capabilities while understanding the limits of new technologies at the disposal of law enforcement, already stretched resources can be better brought to bear on the main goal – fighting crime and illicit activity.

ChainArgos was privileged to have played a small role in facilitating this learning journey and bridging knowledge gaps and we look forward to the next edition at INTERPOL.