Australia's Project Longstrike to Investigate Bitcoin Crime, Technology for Tracing Transactions Reportedly Built

The Australian Crime Commission has launched Project Longstrike. Its aim is to "develop an enhanced understanding of the national and international environment in the detected misuse of virtual currencies to facilitate criminal activity," according to Judy Lind, the commission's executive director of strategy and specialist capability.

Virtual currencies like Bitcoin have become useful tools for criminals looking to carry out their dealings anonymously via the internet, the dark net in particular. Lind explained:

"The ACC has assessed that organised crime groups continue to make use of darknets to harbour trading in illicit commodities, including child exploitation material, illicit drugs and firearms, stolen credit card and identity data, and hacking techniques."

Six weeks ago, authorities confiscated a Bitcoin ATM and arrested its operator as part of a crackdown on drug gangs.

The agency also revealed that it has spent two years developing technologies capable of tracing bitcoin transactions. It will be interesting to observe their capabilities, as it has been hitherto impossible to link Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term transactions to real world IDs, especially when users employ technologies that further obscure them. Pattern recognition and other tracing technologies are also being researched by companies like Coinalytics.

The announcement comes as Australia ramps up efforts to formalize Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term around bitcoin with its Senate inquiry. The state of Bitcoin in the country in general has also drawn attention. Bitcoin buying service CoinJar has relocated to the UK due to GST considerations which were recently raised by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in the inquiry.