COMPANY NEWS | APRIL 17, 2024
Romania Looks to Lead EU in Crypto-Asset Crimefight
by Partnering with ChainArgos
ROMANIA’S NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN INFORMATICS – ICI BUCHAREST SIGNS LANDMARK PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WITH CHAINARGOS TO DEVELOP BLOCKCHAIN INTELLIGENCE TRAINING AND CAPABILITIES
Introduction
The National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest and ChainArgos partner to launch the Blockchain Intelligence Academy (BIA), dedicated to the training of blockchain intelligence professionals, and the Crypto-Assets Investigation and Compliance Centre (CICC) a center for excellence in the provision of blockchain technology and analysis services.
ChainArgos General Counsel Patrick Tan (Left), ICI Bucharest General Director Victor Vevera (Center) and ChainArgos CEO Jonathan Reiter (Right) sign the landmark public-private partnership between ICI Bucharest and ChainArgos to jointly develop blockchain intelligence training and capabilities.
History was made today in the iconic Unirii Hall of Bucharest’s world-famous Palace of the Parliament, where ICI Bucharest, Romania’s foremost public research institute signed a wide-ranging commercial agreement with Singapore-headquartered blockchain intelligence firm ChainArgos.
ICI Bucharest, which represents the best and brightest of Romania’s research, development and innovation effort in information and communication technology, is partnering leading blockchain intelligence firm ChainArgos to introduce two new centers of excellence for blockchain intelligence – the Blockchain Intelligence Academy (BIA) and the Crypto-Assets Investigations and Compliance Centre.
The rapid advance of blockchain technology has not only generated significant opportunities, but also poses serious threats to financial stability and national security, and created critical gaps in oversight, regulation, compliance, and investigative capabilities.
Regulators and policymakers, law enforcement and compliance professionals, banks and financial institutions, currently lack the both the experience and technical knowledge to understand the opportunities created by blockchain technology, and the threats posed.
What is the Blockchain Intelligence Academy (BIA)?
The BIA was established to fill the significant gap in blockchain intelligence capabilities not just in Romania and Europe, but globally, to equip stakeholders with the necessary critical thinking skills necessary to seize opportunities and address challenges posed by blockchain technology.
Unlike existing training programs, the BIA seeks to develop a professional, accredited community of critical thinkers, who understand the capabilities and limitations of blockchain intelligence, and know how best to apply such intelligence to their specific applications and goals.
ChainArgos CEO and Chief Data Scientist Jonathan Reiter explains to a captivated audience how scams based in Russia, investment scams in Southeast Asia and terrorism financing for Hamas use the same service providers.
What is the Crypto-Assets Investigations and Compliance Centre (CICC)?
The Crypto-Assets Investigations and Compliance Centre (CICC) is the first of its kind public-private partnership between Romania’s premier public research institute ICI Bucharest, and Singapore-based ChainArgos, the blockchain intelligence firm famous for uncovering billions of dollars’ worth of fraud, criminal transactions, and terrorist financing.
ICI Bucharest and ChainArgos will work together in the CICC to provide blockchain intelligence capabilities otherwise unavailable to both public and private sector customers.
ChainArgos’ powerful blockchain intelligence software is already well-respected in the industry and is a capable, versatile tool relied on for providing accurate blockchain intelligence and unbiased analysis.
From designing and implementing blockchain transaction monitoring and reporting frameworks, to analyzing the impact on financial stability of crypto-asset, the CICC will establish a center of excellence, providing blockchain intelligence to develop commercial opportunities, manage threats to financial stability and national security, and perform transaction tracing and monitoring.
VIPs and guests at the Digital Innovation Summit Bucharest in 2024 listen in earnest to a panel on the gaps in blockchain intelligence, hosted by Forbes' Director of Data and Analytics, Javier Paz.
The Goal
The partnership reflects ChainArgos and ICI Bucharest’s commitment to blockchain intelligence in service of the truth.
“We aim to develop blockchain intelligence capabilities for impactful, evidence-based and data-driven decisions and better outcomes.”
Dr. Adrian Victor Vevera
General Director, ICI Bucharest
“A public-private partnership is the ideal way to leverage technological, intelligence, and data-gathering resources, to very quickly develop independent blockchain intelligence capabilities.”
Mr. Jonathan Reiter
CEO and Chief Data Scientist, ChainArgos
ChainArgos General Counsel Patrick Tan (speaking with mic) talks about the limitations of blockchain intelligence and how a lack of understanding can lead to unfavorable outcomes.
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.
Director of Romania's Financial Supervisory Authority Alexandru Petresecu applauds the signing of the landmark public-private partnership between ICI Bucharest and ChainArgos.