To Catch A Bitcoin Thief, Call These Detectives

Forensic firms specializing in digital currency are helping law enforcement track criminals—and helping companies maintain compliance too.

- Jeff John Roberts

TECH BITCOIN AND OTHER DIGITAL CURRENCIES caught on with criminals thanks to their reputation as an anonymous, untraceable way to move money around the Internet. That reputation may be overblown. Companies like Chainalysis have built fast-growing businesses helping law enforcement track the mysterious money.

The New York City company employs a gaggle of doctorate-wielding data scientists and statisticians who study Bitcoin’s blockchain—its indelible public ledger that records transactions— to gain clues about who owns given hoards of the digital currency. The practice is possible because the blockchain contains a series of digital “wallets” that have a unique identifier and show the flow of money into and out of the wallet.