What Crypto Wild West? CipherTrace Claims Market is 87% Trackable

Per a press release on Business Wire on October 15, 2019, cryptocurrency and blockchain security company, CipherTrace, recently launched a platform that would trace the transactions of over 700 crypto tokens. The expanded platform helps investors, law enforcement agencies, and financial regulatory bodies to check for illicit crypto transactions.

CipherTrace Unveils Robust Crypto Tracking Capability

Financial regulatory bodies and governments of different jurisdictions have constantly had three major problems with the crypto industry: volatility, risk, and anonymity. Of the three, anonymity seems to be the number one issue.

Due to the anonymous nature of cryptocurrency transactions, the general consensus amongst most regulatory watchdogs and critics is that bitcoin and other digital tokens serve as a perfect tool for money laundering and financing of terrorist activities.

However, the blockchain and crypto intelligence firm, CipherTrace, has come out with a solution that would be able to detect fraudulent virtual currency transactions and instill trust in the crypto industry. The latest extended crypto intelligence platform using the company’s API can trace transactions involving over 700 digital tokens.

This means clients of CipherTrace can monitor over 87 percent of the top 100 virtual currency tokens by trading volume. The crypto intelligence company initially supported bitcoin (BTC) on its platform. The company added other top digital tokens like ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC) among crypto coins whose transactions can be traced, together with many ERC20 tokens.

Speaking on the recent development, CEO of CipherTrace, Dave Jevans, said:

“Only by helping virtual asset service providers rid their networks of criminals and terrorists will the industry achieve the level of trust required for widespread adoption and government acceptance. Until now, large swaths of the cryptocurrency ecosystem have remained opaque to AML and CTF monitoring. By delivering the most comprehensive cryptocurrency intelligence, we are helping to create a multi-trillion-dollar global crypto economy.”

The CEO added that the additional support for other cryptos and ERC20 tokens would favor financial institutions and cryptocurrency businesses. Also, it is important that digital currency exchanges convince their banking partners about the ability to trace the risks related to cryptocurrencies.

Death Knell for “Shady Cryptocurrency” Rhetoric?

The talk about cryptocurrency being a shady business has been the song of financial regulators right from time. Many governments see the virtual currency industry as the “wild west”, with some jurisdictions either banning crypto trading or putting in place strict regulations.

Indian is one country that is known for its anti-crypto stance. In 2018, the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), prohibited commercial banks from offering banking services to holders of crypto and virtual currency exchanges. According to the RBI, bitcoin and other virtual tokens were used for money laundering and illicit activities.

China also banned ICO trading in the country and later cracked down on cryptocurrency exchanges. The country is further thinking of banning bitcoin mining.

However, the recent development by CipherTrace could put an end to the negative views about the crypto industry. Governments and financial regulators can monitor crypto trading transactions and know the actual number of illicit transactions that occur, instead of painting the industry with one big black brush.