Coinbase has announced the acquisition of blockchain analytics startup Neutrino to proactively prevent illegal activities involving the exchange’s accounts.

According to the February 19 announcement, Neutrino’s technology will help the leading United States’ crypto exchange to “prevent theft of funds from peoples’ accounts, investigate ransomware attacks, and identify bad actors.”

Asia Trading Summit – The Leading Investment Event in China

Moreover, the analytics technology will also help the San-Francisco-headquartered company to comply with various local laws and regulations.

As a part of the acquisition, Coinbase has poached the entire team of the Italy-based blockchain firm. The eight former Neutrino employees will move to the exchange’s London office.

Talking to Coindesk about the acquisition, Varun Srinivasan, Coinbase’s director of engineering and product, said: “This [acquisitation] is particularly important as we work with regulators and agencies in different countries to bring new assets there.”

Srinivasan also revealed that the analytics technology of Neutrino will equip the exchange to identify “which new tokens are gaining value and gaining traction in the space.”

“We decided to join Coinbase because we’re totally aligned with the company’s mission of building an open financial system and we share the same commitment to regulation, compliance, and security in the cryptocurrency space,” Neutrino CEO Giancarlo Russo told Coindesk.

Moreover, according to Srinivasan, Neutrino’s team is far more efficient compared to its market competitors like Whitestream and Chainalysis and works on features for various cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin. Also, the Neutrino team has a wide reach in the European market which will ultimately benefit Coinbase to make a stronger grip in the region.

“They’ve done a really good job of building up in the European market. But we want to bring them to the American market and the international market and introduce them to companies that are doing all kinds of things with crypto that need blockchain intelligence,” Srinivasan added.

Coinbase’s Beyond America Expansion

After becoming a dominating player in the US market, Coinbase is now expanding its wings in the overseas markets. In January, the firm hired Mark Kelly – a well-respected compliance expert – as its head of compliance in the UK.

The exchange also added support for cross-border wire transfers for institutional clients in Asia and Europe.