The goal is to support the implementation of cyber sanctions undertaken by OFAC. The bitcoin addresses will be under constant vigilance by the Treasury Department.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), of the United States Department of the Treasury, posted a call for tools to train a team of researchers to closely watch bitcoin addresses.
The announcement appeared on May 4 on an official page, stating that the group of researchers will come from OFAC’s Office of Global Goals (OGT) to put into analysis and track Bitcoin transactions.
The post also states that the sole intention is to gather address information that the OGT could enlist on OFAC’s blacklist, known as the Specially Designated Citizens and Blocked Persons (SDN) list.
The SDN is a sanction and embargo measure of the United States of America Government, which normally aims at those who consider terrorists, officials, and beneficiaries of authoritarian regimes and international criminals related to narco-crimes.
OFAC, based in Washington, DC, hopes these tools will serve to bring more support to the implementation of cyber sanctions. They are intending to create several tools to corroborate the information and make it sufficient to meet the legal requirements to become evidence.
The tools should bring address pooling, wallet explorer, user behavior analysis, transaction flow mapping, and graphing exchange rate, and help gather vital market data. In addition, they must have a license and grant access to five users each. The deadline for the call is May 25, 2021, at 2:00 pm EST.
Bitcoin Blockchain Analysis is a Tool for Research Entities
OFAC already has some bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies addresses on its blacklist. Some addresses with cryptocurrencies linked to a hacker organization are facing charges that include stealing more than USD 500 million.
Among the coins they stole were bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), dogecoin (DOGE), and XRP, among others. Twenty addresses from several blockchains became blacklisted.
Blockchain analysis tools are frequently used as tools by US investigative entities. They have reportedly even been successful in helping to solve some investigations. Such is the recent case of a bitcoin mixer operator who got caught for alleged money laundering in Los Angeles, California.
OFAC is wary of the role of cryptocurrencies in countries subject to US sanctions. An example of this is the relation between North Korea’s prolific bank and exchange hacking program, Venezuela’s Petro, as well as calls by the Iranian president to create a cryptocurrency that the US cannot touch. This situation makes many American authorities remain suspicious of the entire industry.
Despite periodic cryptocurrency-specific portfolio designations, OFAC has limited its direct engagement with cryptocurrencies and other branches of the United States of America government. Authorities have struggled to adapt to this new environment because they still feel more confident by using traditional financial systems.
Eric Lorber, the Vice President of the Financial Integrity Network and Main Director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, assured that the authorities have been working hard to achieve many goals in this new field.
By: Jenson Nuñez
