Russia has become an international force using cryptocurrency for sanctions evasion, ransomware attacks and most recently malign interference in the US elections. Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) speaks with colleagues,  Valerie Kennedy (Director of Intelligence Solutions, International) and Andrew Fierman (Head of National Security Intelligence) on the heels of Russia enacting significant legislation changes including legalizing cryptocurrency mining and permitting the use of crypto for international payments. The trio explore Russia’s utilization of sanctioned crypto platforms like Garantex, the rising use of Telegram for illicit activities and the global implications of their election interference and disruptive tactics across the USA, Europe and beyond. They highlight that Russia’s affiliated media firms were funneling millions to US-based influencers to spread propaganda, the use of bot networks and the troubling rise of online platforms selling compromised social media accounts. This is a must listen, as Russia has become the international focus when it comes to geopolitical hotspots.  Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | Valerie Kennedy’s cyber background and transition into working at a crypto exchange 4 | Is Russia leading the crypto industry in sanctions evasion, elections interference and ransomware attacks?  6 | Understanding Russia’s secondary sanctions dilemma  10 | Russian sanctions evasion using crypto and traditional fiat  14 | Russian media companies bankrolling American influencers to create Pro-Russia propaganda  20 | The effectiveness of Sanctions against illicit Russian actors in the crypto industry 23 | Russia’s attempt to influence other countries and using spies and crypto to do so 26 | The significant of Telegram Founder getting arrested and the controversial use of the messaging platform 28 | Why are manufacturers of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) being sanctioned? 32 | How sanctioned Russian exchange, Garantex is still thriving using stablecoins 35 | Key takeaways for compliance officers navigating Russian connected typologies   Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: Chainalysis: The Blockchain Data Platform Press Release: Operation Final Exchange: German Federal Criminal Police Office shut down almost 50 crypto  money laundering platforms Report: The Chainalysis Malign Interference and Crypto Report Blog: Russia’s Cryptocurrency Pivot: Legislated Sanctions Evasion Blog: OFAC Sanctions Russian Drone Developer KB Vostok Linked to Ukraine Invasion Blog: International Agencies Sanction Russian National Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, Leader of Cybercrime Group LockBit, for Developing and Distributing Ransomware Blog: OFAC Sanctions Hydra Following Law Enforcement Shutdown of the Darknet Market, As Well As Russian Exchange Garantex News: The Washington Post: Inside Tenet Media, the pro-Trump ‘supergroup’ allegedly funded by Russia YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews *Host* (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  Valerie Kennedy (Director of Intelligence Solutions, International, Chainalysis) Andrew Fierman (Head of National Security Intelligence, Chainalysis) This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. 

Why build another DeFi product or platform when there are already so many? Well that is both a good question and an unfortunate problem highlighted by  Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) in today’s episode as he speaks to the CEO of Tea-Fi, Matan Doyich.  Matan and his team are creating a one-stop shop for the wide variety of DeFi platforms in order to have the ability to conduct swaps, provide lending, execute decentralized trades and all the other core fundamental products of DeFi, all in one place. Matan details Tea-Fi’s features, including its privacy-focused solutions using ZK technology and the ambitious goal of integrating lending, swaps, and synthetic assets with upcoming support for cross-chain transactions and a debit card. He provides his insights on International regulatory scrutiny towards privacy protocols like Tornado Cash and explains why Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) could be the future of adding privacy to existing crypto solutions.  Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | Simplifying DeFi: How Tea-Fi plans to turn a complex ecosystem into one user-friendly platform  4 | Matan’s crypto journey from algorithmic trading to creating a crypto hedge fund   8 | Balancing privacy and regulation in decentralized finance (DeFi) 12 | Understanding the focus by regulators on Tornado Cash and Telegram as money laundering conduits 17 | Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) could be the future of adding privacy to existing crypto solutions 20 | Unveiling the Tea-Fi ecosystem including DEXs, swap protocols and landing platforms 24 | How Tea-Fi will be able to offer uncollateralized crypto loans via their network reward program 26 | What does Tea-Fi excited about for the end of 2024 Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: Tea-Fi: The One-Stop Shop For DeFi Whitepaper: Tea-Fi Whitepaper: Private Decentralized Finance Roadmap: Tea-Fi Roadmap - 2024 to 2025 Blog: 2022 Biggest Year Ever For Crypto Hacking with $3.8 Billion Stolen, Primarily from DeFi Protocols and by North Korea-linked Attackers Article: Tea-Fi: One-Stop Shop for DeFI Report: The 2024 Global Adoption Index: Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) Region Leads the World in Terms of Global Cryptocurrency Adoption YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews * Host * (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  Matan Doyich (CEO, Tea-Fi) This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. 

Bitcoin is back. It could be attributed to the increasing prices, Bitcoin ordinals or the development of Layer 2 initiatives on the most secure blockchain ever. In today’s episode, Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) speaks with Stanford Professor and Co-founder of BabylonChain, Davide Tse, to explore how Bitcoin can be used to secure proof of stake networks without the use of bridges.  The episode kicks off with an introduction to BabylonChain, a protocol designed to leverage Bitcoin for securing proof of stake networks using Bitcoin's native time lock feature and cryptographic methods to ensure both security and incentivization of honest behavior by stakers. David discusses his early days collaborating with Vitalik Buterin to identify vulnerabilities in Ethereum’s move to proof of stake and highlights the renewed interest in Bitcoin, powered by recent ETF approvals and L2 projects. Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | Why Bitcoin is the perfect asset to secure Proof of Stake blockchains  4 | David Tse’s past life focused on wireless infrastructure to figuring out how to scale Bitcoin  6 | Collaborating with Vitalik Buterin to transition Ethereum to a Proof of Stake protocol 8 | Integrating Bitcoin with Proof of Stake without bridging 13 | What is Babylon Chain and how does it work  18 | The renewed interest in Bitcoin due to Bitcoin ETF approvals and Bitcoin L2 projects  22 | The collaboration with Nubit, the first Bitcoin-native data availability layer 24 | How Babylon Chain can go from testnet to mainnet  26 | What assets are staking rewards paid in? 28 | Bitcoin is Back and the innovation that will be built on top of it  Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: BabylonChain: Unlocking 21 Million Bitcoin to Secure the Decentralised Economy Blog: What is Bitcoin Staking? Article: Forbes: How Bitcoin Usage Could Skyrocket Thanks To Zero-Knowledge Proofs Article: Blockworks: Yes, staking actually should be regulated Blog: Zero-Knowledge Rollups and Optimistic Rollups: An Overview Report: The 2024 Global Adoption Index: Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) Region Leads the World in Terms of Global Cryptocurrency Adoption YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Telegram: Chainalysis on Telegram  Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews * Host * (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  David Tse (Co-Founder, BabylonChain) This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.  

Very rarely do you get to listen to top visionaries like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Sam Altman talk about technological shifts that changed the world, but in today’s episode, Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) speaks with Michael Gronager (Co-Founder & CEO, Chainalysis) about building the the first blockchain analytics company that forever will change cryptocurrency industry. Michael takes us on his journey  from chemistry and computational studies to virtual reality and launching one of the first crypto exchanges.  He shares his innovative approach to cryptography and distributed systems and how this benefited him with his time at building up Kraken and recounts the early days of cryptocurrency before regulations and bank acceptance on his path to creating Chainalysis. The duo discuss the evolution of crypto compliance, the creation of Chainalysis' flagship solution, Reactor, on a shoestring budget and the challenges faced in bringing transparency to the crypto world.  Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | Michael’s journey from chemistry to computational studies to virtual reality 8 | What happened when Michael finally hears about Bitcoin in 2010 11 | Challenges and innovation in Bitcoin micro payments 17 | Launching Kraken: Overcoming challenges in early crypto exchange era 24 | The industry tipping point that started the creation of Chainalysis  32 | The serendipitous journey of the founding team of Chainalysis and first investor / customer convos 39 | Crypto is starting to look more like finance rather than finance looking more like crypto 42 | The evolution of trust and stablecoins in the crypto ecosystem  Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: Chainalysis: Building Trust in Blockchains Blog: How the Chainalysis Crypto Investigations Solution Supports Cases From Lead Discovery to Illicit Seizures Article: Edge Middle East: How an 11-hour flight inspired Michael Gronager’s $8.6B Chainalysis prototype Podcast: Public Key: Ep. 11 - Chainalysis: The Past, The Present, The Future Article: World Economic Forum: Why we still need cryptocurrency for an ‘internet of value’ Blog: OFAC Sanctions Russian Drone Developer KB Vostok Linked to Ukraine Invasion Report: The Chainalysis Malign Interference and Crypto Report YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Tik Tok: Building trust in #blockchains among people, businesses, and governments. Telegram: Chainalysis on Telegram  Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews * Host * (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  Michael Gronager (Co-Founder & CEO, Chainalysis) This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

Ian Andrews, CMO at Chainalysis, hosts Hugo Philion, CEO of Flare Network, a pioneering figure transitioning from hedge fund trading to blockchain. They discuss the vital role of decentralized oracles in providing reliable data, differentiating Flare's solution from vulnerable alternatives. Hugo elaborates on the importance of integrating KYC and AML into blockchain, shedding light on regulatory challenges. The conversation also covers cross-chain interoperability, the flaws in current data systems, and how innovations in Flare aim to enhance security and collaboration.

Ian Andrews, CMO of Chainalysis, and Alice Nawfal, co-founder and COO of Notabene, dive into the evolving landscape of the Travel Rule and its impact on crypto transactions. Alice discusses her journey from decentralized identity to Travel Rule compliance, highlighting infrastructure challenges. They explore the role of the EU’s MiCA in enhancing trust, the need for real-time counterparty risk assessments, and the complexities of self-hosted wallets. The duo emphasizes streamlined compliance as key to future crypto innovations.

John Randles, the CEO of Siren with a focus on data-driven investigations, speaks with Ian Andrews, CMO of Chainalysis, a leader in combating crypto crime. They discuss the urgent need for modern technology in law enforcement to tackle increasingly sophisticated crimes. Randles explains how their investigative platform integrates data from blockchain and social media, highlighting challenges like outdated tech and recruitment bottlenecks. The conversation also touches on the evolution of criminal tactics and the role of AI in enhancing investigative capabilities.

Vijay Chetty, CEO of Eclipse Labs and a crypto veteran with experience at Uniswap and Ripple, joins Ian Andrews, CMO of Chainalysis, to discuss groundbreaking innovations in blockchain. They dive into the creation of Ethereum's first Solana Virtual Machine Layer 2, focusing on its potential to enhance transaction speed and throughput. Vijay shares insights on transitioning app developers between Solana and Eclipse, and explores the future of decentralized finance while balancing regulatory challenges in an evolving market.

Ever wonder what goes into taking down the world’s biggest ransomware group. Well in this episode   Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) speaks to  Phil Larratt (Director of Investigations, Chainalysis) and William Lyne (Head of Cyber Intelligence, National Crime Agency (NCA)), who share how UK law enforcement along with their International partners were able to infiltrate and eventually shutdown the most prolific ransomware ecosystem, LockBit. The trio discuss LockBit, the major ransomware-as-a-service threat and provide a detailed account of Operation Cronos, a sophisticated takedown that compromised LockBit’s system and eventually led to the takedown of their operations Phil and William explain the intricacies of crypto tracing, International law enforcement collaboration, and the innovative tactics used to protect victims and hinder cybercrimes, like ransomware. This is one of the few episodes that provides a riveting inside look at one of the most significant crypto ransomware operations to date and the ripple effects on the larger cybercrime ecosystem. Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | William Lyne’s background going from Astro-Physics into Cyber Crime at NCA 4 | Introduction to Phil Larratt and unpacking a 100 Million Pound “Vishing” fraud case  8 | The scale of the LockBit Ransomware syndicate and affiliates 14 | Operation Cronos and how law enforcement infiltrated an entire ransomware ecosystem  18 | Blockchain intelligence’s role in fighting cyber crimes like ransomware 23 | Government’s covert operations against ransomware hackers 27 | The impact on the ransomware ecosystem post-LockBit takedown  30 | New UK Law enhances crypto asset seizure capabilities to fight cyber crime  Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: National Crime Agency (NCA): The deployment of ransomware remains the greatest cyber serious and organised crime threat to the UK News: Operation Cronos: International investigation disrupts the world’s most harmful cyber crime group Project: RUSI:  Ransomware Harms and the Victim Experience Blog: U.S. and U.K. Disrupt Lockbit Ransomware Group and Indict Two Russian Nationals While OFAC Levies Sanctions Announcement: Announcing Chainalysis’ 2024 U.S. Public Sector Customer Awards Program Report: Chainalysis Money Laundering and Cryptocurrency Report (Available Now) Report: [REPORT PREVIEW] Malign Interference and Crypto: How Crypto Transaction Tracing Can Expose and Disrupt Malign Influence Efforts YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Tik Tok: Building trust in #blockchains among people, businesses, and governments. Telegram: Chainalysis on Telegram  Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews * Host * (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  William Lyne (Head of Cyber Intelligence, National Crime Agency (NCA)) Phil Larratt (Director of Investigations, Chainalysis)  This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

With the evolution and the capabilities of AI and the questioning of authenticity during the time of Presidential elections, it is getting increasingly more important that data and files are unable to be corrupted and not controlled by a centralized party. In this episode,  Ian Andrews (CMO, Chainalysis) speaks with renowned cryptocurrency and civil liberties attorney, Marta Belcher (President & Chair, Filecoin Foundation). It's a timely discussion that traverses the innovations and societal impacts of decentralized technologies and how Filecoin and IPFS’s decentralized storage solutions are at the forefront of what could be an International shift to securing information. Marta provides exclusive insights into the incredible collaboration with Lockheed Martin deploying IPFS in space and she shares her insights on the recent advances in crypto policy, discussing the importance of the FIT21 bill and the complexities of privacy and content moderation in the digital age. Minute-by-minute episode breakdown 2 | Marta Belcher's journey into Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and civil liberties  4 | Introduction to IPFS and the benefits of decentralized file storage 12 | Understanding the scale of Filecoin and the amount of data and type of data being stored 16 | Filecoin and IPFS technology demonstrated in space with Lockheed Martin 21 | Dealing with decentralized content moderation on web3 platforms  27 | Crypto policy shifts and legal battles unfolding in USA with the FIT21 Bill and the introduction of the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act  31 | Insights into the debate on privacy vs. anonymity when it relates to cryptocurrency    Related resources Check out more resources provided by Chainalysis that perfectly complement this episode of the Public Key. Website: Filecoin Foundation: On a mission to preserve humanity’s most important information Website: Filecoin: Decentralized storage network designed to store humanity’s most important information Article: Marta Belcher: Reframing Privacy for the Digital Age Article: Transcript Audio: Elizabeth Warren's New Financial Surveillance Bill Is a Disaster for Privacy and Civil Liberties Report: Chainalysis Money Laundering and Cryptocurrency Report (Available Now) Report: [REPORT PREVIEW] Malign Interference and Crypto: How Crypto Transaction Tracing Can Expose and Disrupt Malign Influence Efforts YouTube: Chainalysis YouTube page Twitter: Chainalysis Twitter: Building trust in blockchain Tik Tok: Building trust in #blockchains among people, businesses, and governments Telegram: Chainalysis on Telegram Speakers on today’s episode Ian Andrews * Host * (Chief Marketing Officer, Chainalysis)  Marta Belcher (President & Chair, Filecoin Foundation) This website may contain links to third-party sites that are not under the control of Chainalysis, Inc. or its affiliates (collectively “Chainalysis”). Access to such information does not imply association with, endorsement of, approval of, or recommendation by Chainalysis of the site or its operators, and Chainalysis is not responsible for the products, services, or other content hosted therein. Our podcasts are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Listeners should consult their own advisors before making these types of decisions. Chainalysis has no responsibility or liability for any decision made or any other acts or omissions in connection with your use of this material. Chainalysis does not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability or validity of the information in any particular podcast and will not be responsible for any claim attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies of any part of such material.  Unless stated otherwise, reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Chainalysis. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by Chainalysis employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.