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.
Thank you to our sponsors!
CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained
Crypto.com: http://crypto.com
eToro: http://etoro.com
Newsletter:
Get Laura’s newsletter on the top crypto stories of the week’s plus a preview of exclusive podcast content! Signup Here: http://eepurl.com/ga8ub5
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
Jackson Palmer of Why We're Not Decentralized Yet - Ep.048
Laura's TEDx Talk: How Crypto Could Allow More People to Be Their Own Boss - Ep.047
The Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork: Bitcoin ABC vs. Bitcoin SV - Ep.046
Emin Gun Sirer on the SEC/EtherDelta Settlement and Why Code Is Speech - Ep.045
Charlie Lee, aka Satoshi Lite, on the 10-Year Anniversary of the Bitcoin White Paper - Ep.044
Fidelity Digital Asset Services' Tom Jessop on Why It's Serving Institutional Clients First - Ep.043
Why the Tether Situation Brought Up Memories of Mt. Gox - Ep.042
How We're Misusing the Word 'Decentralization' - Ep.041
How Abra Enables You to Buy $5 of an ETF-Like Token of the Top 10 Cryptos - Ep.040
Rune Christensen of MakerDao on Its $15 Million From Andreessen Horowitz - Ep.039
Why 'Ethereum Killers' Will Have a Hard Time Attracting Its Developers - Ep.038
Alex Sunnarborg of Tetras Capital on Why He's Bearish on Ether - Ep.037
Shapeshift's About-Face: Why Now? - Ep.036
Pamela Morgan on How to Pass Your Crypto Assets On to Your Heirs - Ep.035
Joe Lubin and Jimmy Song Work On the Terms of Their Bet on Dapps — and Trash Talk the Other’s Coin - Ep.034
How Crypto Will Give You More Flexibility in Your Work - Ep.033
Why the ICE/Bakkt News Makes Some Crypto Investors Nervous - Ep.032
A Place Where People May Be Using Crypto For More Than Speculation - Ep.031
CoinList's Andy Bromberg on the One Big Regulatory Issue Facing Crypto - Ep.030
Token Economy's Stefano Bernardi on How DAOs Could Create a Less Capitalist World - Ep.029
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Pharmacy Podcast Network
Startitup podcasty
Sarah Westall - Business Game Changers
Børsen Morgenbriefing
Wall Street Breakfast