In the heart of Seoul, an elite team of investigators known as the Yeouido Grim Reaper is grappling with a challenge they couldn’t have anticipated just over a year ago. They are experiencing an avalanche of cases and a shortage of staff.
The Grim Reaper is a unit dedicated to tackling cryptocurrency-related illicit activities in South Korea. It’s a department of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office and was previously named “the Financial and Securities Crime Coalition Team.”
The Yeouido Grim Reaper was reformed to tackle high-level crypto-related crimes exclusively. Specifically, the notorious Terra ecosystem and the resulting losses for LUNA investors were the team’s primary case after reformation. Tax evasion allegations against Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs and other financial crimes related to the Terra ecosystem collapse were the center of attention for investigations and financial crime units.
However, the rapid expansion of the cryptocurrency market and the sophistication of illicit acts revolving around it have brought an increasing number of complex cases to the attention of the unit. Currently known as the Joint Investigation Division, the crypto investigation team recovered KRW 163.87 billion (approximately US $121M) in criminal proceeds over the year, indicting a total of 373 people and launching 48 arrests.
These days, the team finds themselves swamped with incidents, despite their focus on high-profile cases. In 2023, the crypto industry witnessed a surge in crypto crime. North Korean hackers alone orchestrated numerous high-profile breaches of exchanges and cryptocurrency service providers, hurting the crypto industry for approximately $400 million.
Blockchain analytics tools are essential to rivaling the volume of illicit activities involving crypto
Blockchain analytics tools however known to help investigate illegitimate activities on the blockchain, these tools are not only central to their efforts in combating crime but also to saving precious time and resources. They enable a smaller team of investigators to achieve significant goals.
Cryptocurrency investigators seek to analyze the transactions on the blockchain to reveal useful intelligence on the culprits behind illicit activities. The data available to them, albeit public, consists of digits and numbers referring to different wallets and entities on the blockchain. No personal information or relationships between the addresses and real entities is revealed initially or require exhausting amounts of work to reveal. Although investigators can trace the flow of criminal proceeds to multiple involved addresses, the investigation often goes out of hand, given the speed of cryptocurrency transactions. In other words, criminals leverage a variety of techniques to obfuscate their traces, including the creation of multiple hops and consolidation addresses to set investigators back from interrupting money laundering activities.
QLUE™, developed by Blockchain Intelligence Group, is a leading blockchain analytics tool designed by investigators and blockchain experts with investigation pain points in mind. It focuses on helping investigators find useful leads, here’s how:
Identifying patterns and trends: QLUE™ can analyze large amounts of blockchain data to identify patterns and trends that may be indicative of illicit activity. For example, QLUE™ can identify clusters of wallets that are frequently involved in high-risk transactions, or transactions that are unusually large or complex.
Linking wallets to real-world entities: QLUE™ can help investigators link cryptocurrency wallets to real-world entities, such as individuals, businesses, and organizations. This is done by using reliable attribution data to provide context to blockchain activity.
Tracking the flow of funds: QLUE™ can track the flow of funds between cryptocurrency wallets, even if the criminals are using sophisticated techniques to obfuscate their traces. This is done by analyzing the entire transaction graph, which is a network of all the wallets that have ever interacted with each other.
Streamlining Forensic Analysis: QLUE™ simplifies the forensic analysis of cryptocurrency transactions, helping investigators uncover patterns and spot suspicious transactions with ease. This helps accelerate the investigative process, making it more efficient and cost-effective.
The surge in crypto crime in 2023 has presented various hurdles, and QLUE™ resembles the right candidate for investigators to pursue their goals efficiently and match the pace of illicit activities.
At Blockchain Intelligence Group, we understand the trade-off between shrinking law enforcement budgets and the need for quality tools. Our priority is data accuracy. Nonetheless, what sets us apart is our commitment to providing you with cost-effective solutions. Book a demo today to use QLUE™ to investigate and resolve cases, quickly and affordably
