Have Crypto Detectives Killed the Cypherpunk Dream? - Ep. 461

Feb 28, 2023

Andy Greenberg, a senior writer for WIRED and author of "Tracers in the Dark," dives into the complex world of crypto tracing and its impact on financial privacy. He discusses the shift from Bitcoin as a tool for crypto anarchy to its use in crime-fighting. Greenberg shares insights from his investigations, revealing how new techniques have been developed to deanonymize Bitcoin, and explores the ethical dilemmas faced by law enforcement. He also reflects on the enigma of Satoshi Nakamoto and the evolving future of privacy in cryptocurrency.

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INSIGHT

Bitcoin's Traceability

Andy Greenberg initially believed Bitcoin would foster crypto anarchy due to its perceived anonymity.
He later realized Bitcoin is the opposite, highly traceable, and became interested in the investigators using this for crime-busting.

ANECDOTE

Individual X Case

In 2020, the IRS seized $1 billion in Bitcoin from "Individual X," a Silk Road hacker.
This case, along with others involving terrorists and North Korean hackers, highlighted Chainalysis's tracing capabilities to Greenberg.

ANECDOTE

Information Source

Greenberg accessed much of his information from IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), an overlooked agency.
IRS CI's eagerness to share, unlike the FBI or DEA, unlocked access to other agencies and their involvement in these cases.

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Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark,” takes us inside the world of crypto-tracing crimebusters and voices the ambivalence of Bitcoin – a cypherpunk creation – eroding financial privacy. Hear how the longtime crypto scribe got law enforcement and sleuthing firms like Chainalysis to open up about their major wins in taking down darknet kingpins.

Show highlights:

why Andy thought early on that Bitcoin would enable crypto anarchy
how blockchain analytics started being used to tackle crime
why the IRS Criminal Investigation unit was more open to discussing its techniques
how Andy learned many new things about already well-known stories when writing about them for the book
the methods used to bring down the “biggest dark-web drug lord” in history
did AlphaBay’s Alexandre Cazes really kill himself in a Thai prison?
how researcher Sarah Meiklejohn developed tools to deanonymize Bitcoin
why she’s now uncomfortable that her techniques were adopted by Chainalysis and sold to law enforcement
what Andy feels about the importance of privacy
how Monero is harder to trace than Bitcoin but not untraceable
what the impact of zero-knowledge technology will be for blockchain analytics firms
whether the cypherpunk ethos is dead
why the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity will never die

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Guest

Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED and author of “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency”

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