On April 13th, 2020, Huobi Group announced the launch of Star Atlas, a proprietary on-chain analytics tool to monitor on-chain cryptocurrency transactions for illicit activities.

The new tool is designed to generate a safer crypto trading atmosphere and ease regulator anxieties about cryptocurrencies being easily utilized in unlawful activities.

According to a company press release, the new on-chain analytics tool flags abnormal transactions in real-time suspends accounts, and then conducts a follow-up investigation.

The company says it wants to fight bad actors on a global scale with the key aim of shaking a long-held stigma about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general – that criminals easily manipulate them.

Star Atlas has been in development for over a year, spearheaded by top crypto security experts. It takes a deep dive into the dark web and other networks, potentially masking illegal transactions.

The new tool’s tracking system deploys a visual user interface so that Huobi administrators can trace transaction paths of illicit activities.

Huobi Set to Ease Concerns That Crypto is Used Extensively by Crooks

Huobi exchange has, in recent years, aligned itself with the requirements of global financial watchdogs, making concerted efforts to cooperate closely with regulators to attain all required licenses and comply fully with KYC and AML regulations in every market it operates.

The introduction of the Star Atlas monitoring tool highlights Huobi’s resolute determination to fight against nefarious uses of crypto on a global scale.

Ciara Sun, VP of Global Business of Huobi Group, remarked:

“It’s estimated that only a small percentage of cryptocurrency transactions are illicit, but any incident—regardless of size—is a stain on the entire industry.”

According to data that Elliptic has collected and analyzed from the past six years, as of 2019, only $829m worth of BTC has been spent on the dark web, a mere 0.5% of all BTC transactions.

This shows that crypto is predominantly used for legal purposes and everyday purchases, so it is absolutely vital to prevent the minority of bad actors from ruining crypto adoption and use for the vast majority that follows the rules.

As we had reported on April 8th, 2020, the amount of criminal use of cryptocurrencies is disproportionately smaller and more attention should be directed at its extensive legitimate uses.

Why Star Atlas Will Stand Out

Although Star Atlas is similar to tools developed by Elliptic and Ciphertrace, Sun believes that Huobi has a comparative advantage as it is willing to partner with other companies in the space to make crypto safer.

The tool should help Huobi address some of the past criticism it had received from Chainalysis’ 2020 State of Crypto Crime Report which stated: