The blockchain surveillance company Chainalysis has announced it has raised $16 million USD in a Series A funding round from the firm Benchmark. Chainalysis also reveals it will be stretching its monitoring software efforts towards the bitcoin cash network and hopes by the year-end the platform will cover ten different public blockchains.
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The New Chainalysis Product ‘KYT’ — Know Your Transaction
is a blockchain surveillance company that produces tools for governments and law enforcement agencies to track bitcoin transactions. The firm was created in 2014 by Jan Moller, Jonathan Levin, and Michael Gronager and has been known to help with criminal investigations involving digital currencies. For instance, Chainalysis has helped law enforcement officials during the . Now the company has from Benchmark and the firm is adding Benchmark’s Sarah Tavel to the Chainalysis board of executives.
Additionally, Chainalysis is adding a new product called ‘Chainalysis KYT’ (Know Your Transaction), a service that enables real-time feedback on the “the underlying purpose of transactions.” Moreover, the protocol will feed that feedback into exchanges’ transaction processing engines and alert customers of “risky customers and export suspicious activity reports”.
“We have opened KYT to a small group of early customers, and they have already seen a 20x improvement in the speed of account reviews,” Chainalysis explains during its announcement. “We’re excited to officially open this solution to exchanges and financial institutions everywhere, which represent the fastest growing segment of our business today.”
A picture of the how Chainalysis views the company’s blockchain surveillance products and cryptocurrency software offerings..
bitcoin Cash Monitoring and Ten More Currencies by the End of 2018
Chainalysis also informs the public that the company is introducing multi-currency support going forward that will track other blockchain transactions. Chainalysis details that multi-currency support for blockchain surveillance entails “looking beyond bitcoin.”
“To start, we are launching bitcoin cash as part of ‘Reactor’, our investigation software, for our law enforcement and government customers, and we plan to expand to at least ten cryptocurrencies by the end of the year,” Chainalysis explains.
We think of the different blockchains that power different cryptocurrencies as all part of the same machine. Both ‘Reactor’ and ‘Chainalysis KYT’ will feature all the cryptocurrencies that we support this year.
and cryptocurrency transaction monitoring firms have concerned digital asset proponents for quite some time. These privacy-invasive platforms have spawned the creation of and altcoins meant to make blockchain transactions obfuscated. Despite the blowback, Chainalysis understands that the private sector and the nation states will always be willing to pay for their software as long as crime exists.
What do you think about Chainalysis raising $16 million and preparing to monitor the bitcoin cash blockchain? Let us know how you feel about blockchain surveillance companies in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, and the Chainalysis blog.
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Billionaire octogenarian George Soros is reportedly taking an interest in cryptocurrency trading. If true, the move would be a remarkable turnaround for the business magnate, who’s previously been scathing of bitcoin, calling it a bubble and a tool of dictators.
Also read: is Propped Up by Dictators
Soros Eyes an Entry into the Crypto Markets
87-year-old George Soros’ best years may be behind him, but the tycoon still knows an opportunity for profit when he sees it. Crypto assets have traditionally been met with scepticism by senior investment figures such as George Soros and Warren Buffet, whose investment prowess is streets ahead of their tech knowledge. Fortunately, an innate understanding of blockchain technology is not required to participate in the crypto markets: simply the ability to calculate risk and reward. Bloomberg that George Soros is now pondering an entry into the cryptocurrency space.
Soros Fund Management, his family investment firm, has $26 billion in assets and is believed to have earmarked some of that capital for crypto. Bloomberg claims that Adam Fisher, an investor at Soros Fund Management, has received the go-ahead to trade virtual currencies. Should this prove to be the case, it would make sense for Soros to enter now that the markets have cooled off, having dropped three-fold from their December peak.
A Volte-Face for the Eight-Billion Dollar Man
bitcoin’s recent history is littered with public figures who’ve written cryptocurrency off, only to later eat their words and stake a claim. Jamie Dimon’s stance on bitcoin has softened considerably, and it appears that George Soros may also have seen the light. “Currently [bitcoin] is used mostly for tax evasion and for the rulers in dictatorships to build a nest egg abroad,” he as recently as January. Even if George Soros retains this view, it doesn’t preclude him from investing in crypto for his own purposes, namely profit.
The cryptocurrency markets are down 41% since Soros last expressed his thoughts on bitcoin. If his entry is confirmed, it’s unlikely to provide any sort of short-term boost to the market. It adds further weight, though, to the notion that in the mid to long-term, investors are extremely bullish about bitcoin. George Soros is a controversial figure for a number of reasons, but when it comes to investments, he’s rarely wrong.
Are you surprised to learn that George Soros could be investing in crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Wikipedia.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the nation’s central bank, has directed all regulated entities including banks not to provide services to businesses dealing in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. RBI is doing so to protect consumer interest and to slow money laundering, the bank’s press release stressed. RBI also announced formation of an official study group to advise the world’s second most populous country on the feasibility of issuing its own state-backed digital coin.
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India’s Central Bank Orders Banks it Regulates to Drop bitcoin
RBI Chief General Manager, Jose J. Kattoor, authored the of 5 April 2018 (Press Release : 2017-2018/2642). The 16 part post “sets out various developmental and regulatory policy measures for strengthening regulation and supervision; broadening and deepening financial markets; improving currency management; promoting financial inclusion and literacy; and, facilitating data management.”
Numbers 12 and 13 are of particular interest to cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Under the heading, “Central Bank Digital Currency,” the RBI first acknowledged the many pitfalls of its legacy financial system. These “have led central banks around the world to explore the option of introducing fiat digital currencies,” Mr. Kattoor explains. “While many central banks are still engaged in the debate, an inter-departmental group has been constituted by the Reserve Bank to study and provide guidance on the desirability and feasibility to introduce a central bank digital currency,” suggesting details will be available this Summer.
Turning to the regulation of private cryptocurrencies, “Ring-fencing regulated entities from virtual currencies,” also begins softly with words like “potential” and “efficiency” and “inclusiveness.” And then it turns sour. “However,” RBI warns, “Virtual Currencies (VCs), also variously referred to as crypto currencies and crypto assets, raise concerns of consumer protection, market integrity and money laundering, among others. Reserve Bank has repeatedly cautioned users, holders and traders of virtual currencies, including Bitcoins, regarding various risks associated in dealing with such virtual currencies.”
Ring-fencing, therefore, will be done due “to the associated risks,” with RBI deciding that “with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs. Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time. A circular in this regard is being issued separately.”
India Tightens the Noose
For sure, the Indian government has had a rough go of it with regard to cryptocurrencies in the world’s second most populous country. Though it has pronounced cryptos a danger many times officially, its citizens seem not to be getting the message. Regional media describes the cryptocurrency phenomenon in the nation as a “craze.”
BP Kanungo
Ring-fencing is pretty much as it sounds. Normally associated with the private sector, as a way to lower taxation by shifting assets safely way from revenue collectors, it can be employed by government in another fashion. Generally the pretext for government to ring-fence has to do with consumer protection, as the RBI is claiming here. Government will literally separate banking from cryptocurrencies via the legal system.
During a press conference, Deputy Governor of the RBI, BP Kanungo, who was appointed to his post almost a year to the day, announced banks entwined with cryptos would have three months to untangle. Mr. Kanungo stressed that governments the world over are also struggling with cryptocurrency regulation, and ignoring them could impact financial stability.
How do you think crypto businesses in India will do without banking support? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, RBI.
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Monex Group, Japanese online brokerage firm, today announced its decision to acquire 100% shares of Coincheck which suffered earlier this year. The deal will cost Monex 3.6 billion yen (around $34 million).
Yesterday, there came the news that Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck a takeover offer from Monex Group, Japan’s third-largest online brokerage. And today Monex said it would buy Coincheck Inc, acquiring full ownership of the Tokyo-based firm.
According to a , the company believes that blockchain technology is likely to change the future. “We recognize blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies as next-generation technologies and platforms which are likely to drastically change the way people approach money. Therefore, since we announced “MONEX’s new beginning” last October, we have considered entering the cryptocurrency exchange business and set up the Monex Cryptocurrency Lab to grow our business based on these new technologies,” Monex wrote.
“Most especially, the cryptocurrency exchange business plays a core part in a vision of “MONEX’s new beginning”. Therefore, the Company has resolved on 100% share acquisition of Coincheck who has been a pioneer among cryptocurrency exchangers,” the press release reads.
Monex is very positive about the deal, considering that it will contribute to crypto industry development and Monex growth in particular. “Through integrating Coincheck’s knowledge on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency with our knowledge on financial industry, we will accelerate the “MONEX’s new beginning” and contribute to the sound development of the cryptocurrency industry. The Company and Coincheck aim to develop a common vision to design the way of finance of the future and provide new values.”
The deal will be executed on April 16. Coincheck’s CEO and COO will resign from the board of directors and become the company’s executive directors. Toshihiko Katsuya, Monex’s managing director and senior executive officer, will take over as president and representative director of Coincheck.
The deal will allow Monex Coincheck’s trading platform and customer base. Monex aims to launch an initial public offering of Coincheck shares in the future, which will be the first such listing by a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. According to Monex, Coincheck generated net income of 471 million yen for the year ended in March.
This acquisition shows that major Japanese financial firms still see growth in the booming domestic cryptocurrency market, despite security and regulatory risks. “Coincheck is a global pioneer of the cryptocurrency business, a global brand,” Oki Matsumoto, Monex CEO, said. “Although we can manage risk, we can’t make Coincheck’s brand value or foundation.”
Currently the Tokyo-based exchange is applying for a license with the FSA. Earlier this year, FSA Coincheck in order to “ensure the preservation of clients’ assets.” According to an FSA official, it would make thorough checks on whether Coincheck implements an effective management system under Monex’s ownership.
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