Jonathan Levin, the cofounder and chief strategy officer of Chainalysis, describes how the blockchain analytics firm helped the IRS identify the administrator of the largest child porn website in the world, which ultimately led to the arrest of the administrator, Jong Woo Son, and 337 site users across 38 countries. The work also led to the rescue of 23 minors from their abusers. He describes how the site used Bitcoin, how they used Bitcoin transactions to identify the users of the site, and how law enforcement worked with exchanges. We also discuss what impact privacy technologies could have on similar investigations going forward, as well as Levin's perspective on the overall utility of Bitcoin despite it being used for illicit activity.
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Episode links:
Chainalysis: https://www.chainalysis.com/
Jonathan Levin: https://twitter.com/jony_levin
DOJ press release: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/south-korean-national-and-hundreds-others-charged-worldwide-takedown-largest-darknet-child
Chainalysis blog post: https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/chainalysis-doj-welcome-to-video-shutdown
Indictment against Jong Woo Son, the administrator of Welcome to Video: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210441/download
Bitcoin laundering: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210461/download
Bitcoin exchanges Welcome to Video recommended + screenshots: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210451/download
Screenshot of the site seized: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1210446/download
Joe Weisenthal’s column about how Bitcoin ETFs would make it easier for people to make illicit Bitcoin transactions: https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/1184786875262885890
Weekly news recap links:
Bloomberg article summarizing overall race to create a global coin: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-16/fed-drags-feet-as-digital-money-revolution-tests-central-banks
FT on why Libra members dropped out: https://www.ft.com/content/6e29a1f0-ef1e-11e9-ad1e-4367d8281195
Libra Association signs charter: https://libra.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Libra-Association-Charter-Press-Release-.pdf
CNBC article on China’s race to release digital currency: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/15/china-races-to-launch-a-cryptocurrency-that-could-rival-facebooks.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&par=sharebar
Fortune article further describing race between Chinese digital currency and alternatives: https://fortune.com/2019/10/16/if-libra-fails-china-wins-the-ledger/
Fed official saying US actively debating digital dollar: https://www.coindesk.com/top-fed-official-says-us-central-bank-actively-debating-digital-dollar
Christopher Giancarlo’s op-ed in WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/we-sent-a-man-to-the-moon-we-can-send-the-dollar-to-cyberspace-11571179923
IRS tax form: https://www.coindesk.com/the-irs-will-now-ask-if-you-own-crypto-in-the-1040-tax-form
Electric Capital on the Coins Punching Below Their Weight - Ep.86
Kik's Surprising Move in Its Lawsuit With the SEC - Ep.85
The IRS Is Cracking Down on Crypto Taxes: What You Need to Know - Ep.84
Jeremy Allaire on Why the US Government Needs a New Category for Digital Assets - Ep.83
Why the Congressional Hearings on Facebook's Libra Were Good for Bitcoin - Ep.82
Why Crypto Regulation Is Surprisingly Cypherpunk - Ep.81
Why It Would Be Good if Libra Rivaled the US Dollar - Ep.80
'Bitcoin Billionaires' Author Ben Mezrich on the Zuckerberg- Winklevoss Rivalry - Ep.079
Libra's Dante Disparte on Why We Should Trust a Financial System Designed by Facebook - Ep.078
Edgeware's Unusual Lockdrop: Get Tokens Even With Frozen Funds - Ep.077
LocalBitcoins on How Bitcoin Trading Compares Across the World - Ep.076
Ethereal 2019: DeFi and Paths to Everyday Usage - Ep.075
To the Moon and Back With Polychain's Olaf Carlson-Wee - Ep.074
Why HTC's Exodus 1s Will Have a Full Bitcoin Node - Ep.073
Binance Hack: Should the Threat of Reorgs Be Used to Deter Hackers? - Ep.072
What Happened to Bitfinex/Tether's $850 Million - Ep.071
Could Social Media Discontent Help the Decentralized Web? - Ep.070
Blockstack's Reg A+ Filing and the Future of Token Offerings - Ep.069
Coinbase Custody: Keep Your Crypto Safe and Use It Too - Ep.068
How Useful Is the SEC's Guidance on ICOs? - Ep.067
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