Chainalysis helps in the cleanup of FTX collapse
Chainalysis helps in the cleanup of FTX collapse
News of the collapse of large crypto platform, FTX, has dominated the headlines for the past couple of weeks, especially since the platform owes its 50 largest creditors more than DKK 22 billion.
However, the cleanup is now underway, and Copenhagen Fintech partner Chainalysis has a big role to play. As part of the newly appointed cleanup team, the company will be engaged in the case to help secure assets so they can be returned to debtors, alongside John J. Ray, who will manage FTX through the bankruptcy process.
This isn’t the only high-profile case Chainalysis has been involved in. Only a couple of months ago, the Danish startup aided in seizing USD30 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean-linked hackers, marking the first time ever that cryptocurrency stolen by a North Korean hacking group has been seized.
The blockchain firm uses analytics to make cryptocurrencies more transparent, enabling banks businesses and governments to understand how people use digital currencies. Its services have been used to solve some of the world's biggest cyber-criminal cases, through its tools in cybersecurity, investigation and compliance.
Ever since its incubation, the company has seen exponential growth and success. Two years ago, the software-as-a-service giant achieved unicorn-status, after a valuation of USD 1 billion, and earlier this year landed a USD 170 million in a Series F led by Singaporean fund GIC. With the new investment, Chainalysis hit a valuation of USD 8,6 billion, effectively doubling its valuation for the third time in two years.
With the growing threat of scams and ransomware, there's a stronger need than ever for investigatory tools. According to Chainalysis, their various tools monitor USD 1 trillion worth of transactions every month, helping governments and private companies in tracking illicit crypto flows across transparent public blockchains:
- Our data powers investigation, compliance, and market intelligence software that has been used to solve some of the world’s most high-profile criminal cases and grow consumer access to cryptocurrency safely, the blockchain analytics firm writes on its website.
And while FTX’s collapse has shaken the crypto market, this is not the first time crypto has faced significant turmoil related to the collapse of an exchange.
Mt. Gox’s collapse in Feb of 2014 did likewise, and since then crypto has thrived, therefore, to make sense of the implications of FTX, the event needs to be put into historical context. Research lead Eric Jardine compares the collapse of the two exchanges here.