French-Austrian Collaboration on Blockchain Forensics Instrument to Enhance Cryptocurrency AML

The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the French cybersecurity firm Nigma Conseil have partnered to develop a new blockchain forensics tool. The two companies have signed a deal to strengthen their collaboration to work on e-Nigma, a proposed compliance tool designed to fight against crypto and financial crime. AIT is the largest research and tech company in Austria owned by the government.

New Blockchain Detective

Nigma Conseil and the AIT have teamed up to make their cooperation stronger against financial crimes associated with cryptocurrencies. The two firms have been working for many months to enhance the e-Nigma platform’s anti-money-laundering (AML) capacities and blockchain analytics built on AIT’s open-source crypto forensics platform, GraphSense.

E-Nigma is a comprehensive blockchain forensics instrument that enables users to carry out due diligence in response to anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulation. The tool monitors and tracks blockchain transactions of companies dealing with crypto and their derivatives. The instrument is also useful in governmental agencies and banks.

The platform provides many advanced features like wallet clustering and risk scoring. It can identify addresses with real-life identities by scaping through both the dark and clear web.

The technology was built as part of an AIT-led program recognized as TITANIUM that was established to investigate transactions in “underground markets.” The European Union awarded the program $5.4 million to fight cryptocurrency crime.  

Fabien Tabarly, Nigma Conseil CEO, said: “The collaboration between AIT and Nigma Conseil has been significant in implementing the most innovative instruments to mitigate financial crime in digital assets.”

Digital Blockchain Forensics

Tracing and tracking payment-flows in crypto assets by analyzing transactions in the underlying blockchain has become a competitive business. E-Nigma is engaging in a competitive field, with similar transaction mapping tools being provided by CipherTrace, Elliptic, and Chainalysis. Such blockchain forensics firms monitor customer withdrawals and deposits for signs of “tainted” coins, which have been involved in drug dealing, terrorism, or money laundering activities.

For example, CipherTrace assists governments and businesses in making cryptocurrencies trusted and safe. Elliptic, which is recognized as the oldest forensics company, is tasked with identifying illicit activities in cryptocurrencies and providing actionable intelligence to government agencies, financial institutions, and crypto companies. Chainalysis, which is best known for all blockchain forensics companies, generates a wealth of interesting data on hodling patterns, lost coins, and many more.   

Image via Shutterstock