Chainalysis hires former chief of IRS Criminal Investigations
Quick Take
- The blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis hired a former chief of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations.
- James Lee will serve as the Global Head of Capacity Building at Chainalysis.
- In this role, Lee will help law enforcement, regulators and other entities build the capacity to fight illicit financial crime.
Chainalysis, a blockchain forensics company, has appointed James Lee, former chief of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigations, as its Global Head of Capacity Building.
In this role, Lee will help law enforcement, regulators, and other organizations leverage the company's tools to fight illicit financial crime. A company spokesperson told The Block that Lee will report to Chainalysis's SVP of Global Revenue, Bas Lemmens, and work with global teams.
Lee's last day of government service was March 31. He had worked at IRS Criminal Investigations for nearly 29 years.
"As Global Head of Capacity Building, I’ll be working to better enable the men and women in law enforcement to thwart many threats in parallel — just like I have been for the last 29 years — and will primarily focus on helping international agencies develop solutions against cryptocurrency-based crime to start," Lee said in an official release. "I’ll also have the chance to help crypto businesses and financial institutions in the private sector build and maintain robust compliance programs."
Hydra shut down
As IRS Criminal Investigations chief, Lee participated in shutting down the dark web marketplace Hydra, which helped cash out illicit proceeds from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in May 2021. Hackers compromised the energy transportation firm's network, forcing Colonial to pay 75 BTC, worth $5 million at the time, to regain control. The attack caused major fuel shortages on the U.S. east coast. Hydra was eventually shut down in April 2022.
"Cryptocurrency is, at least in part, being used for a wide range of nefarious activities, and will only become more so as adoption grows," Lee said in a statement. "But by equipping law enforcement agencies with the best-in-class tools and data to fight this activity, we can ensure that the crypto ecosystem remains as safe as possible, so that people around the world can realize its many benefits without fear of being targeted by criminals."
Chainalysis was valued at $8.6 billion in 2022, The Block previously reported.
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