Blockchain data company Chainalysis said it was launching a Crypto Incident Response Program, responding to the growing danger from illicit crypto activities. The new product seeks to mitigate the consequences of crypto fraud and scams by providing assistance directly after an attack is discovered by the victim.
Operating a 24/7 hotline, Chainalysis promises it will jump on the case immediately after it’s reported. Besides investigating reported cases themselves, Chainalysis experts could also help crypto scam victims connect with law enforcement and asset recovery counsel.
Although only 0.15% of all 2021 crypto transactions involved illicit addresses, according to a report Chainalysis published earlier this year, the sums that end up being stolen are at all-time highs, with $14 billion sucked in by various types of criminals and terrorists.
“Time is of the essence, and immediately tracing and labeling funds in the Chainalysis platform can make the difference in preventing bad actors from cashing out their ill-gotten gains,” senior director of investigations at Chainalysis, Erin Plante, said in a press release.
While a prompt response cannot guarantee that stolen funds will be recovered, Chainalysis’s initiative signals that the crypto industry is in need of a greater sense of security. Headline-grabbing scams perpetrated this year, including against Axie Infinity and Bored Ape Yacht Club, are seen as exacerbating the bear market blues, but can nonetheless give rise to a new crypto subsector.
