Blockchain analysis startup Chainalysis launches new service for managing seized crypto

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has launched a new service aimed at governments and law enforcement agencies looking to handle, monitor and dispose of seized crypto assets. 

The new service is being offered in partnership with Asset Reality, a consulting firm that specializes in asset realization services for public and private sector clients.

“Chainalysis is dedicated to building trust in digital assets, and that means helping to detect and investigate illicit activity. As our government partners become more successful in rooting out bad actors, assisting them with asset recovery and realization is a natural next step," Jason Bonds, Chainalysis's chief revenue officer, said in a statement.

As previously reported, agencies such as the U.S. Marshals Service have expressed interest in such a product, given its role in auctioning seized crypto funds. The last such auction by the USMS took place in February, when it sold just over 4,000 BTC. The USMS said in June that it was moving ahead with plans to hire a third-party contractor to work with it on crypto disposal. 

What's more, the topic of crypto-asset seizure is perhaps particularly germane given that the U.S. government just seized more than $1 billion in bitcoin said to have been stolen from the Silk Road, the defunct dark marketplace  shuttered in 2013.