ICE Looks To Ramp Up Blockchain Surveillance Capabilities With New Purchases From TRM Labs, Chainalysis: Report

Recent federal procurement filings indicate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is ramping up its use of blockchain analytics technology to bolster efforts against illegal activity involving cryptocurrency.

What Happened: ICE issued notices of intent to purchase additional investigative tools from TRM Labs and Chainalysis, according to a Fedscoop report.

These companies are among the leading providers of blockchain forensics software. The agency shared that it plans to sole-source from both companies due to a lack of feasible alternatives for their specialized services.

Additional purchases from Magnet Forensics and Volexity are also in the pipeline. These companies are already known vendors across federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and IRS.

Why It Matters: Blockchain transactions are visible on public ledgers, but they often obscure user identities. As criminal organizations continue to adopt digital currencies to evade detection, analytics platforms are becoming crucial for tracing hidden financial trails.

According to TRM Labs' Ari Redbord, these tools are aiding agencies to track cryptocurrency use in terrorism financing, human trafficking and cross-border smuggling. He highlighted that their systems can trace transactions even when bad actors use complex tactics to disguise activity.

ICE is stepping up its implementation of advanced technology across a variety of domains. Earlier this year, it signed a $29.8 million contract with Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), to enhance its immigration enforcement tools.

The agency is currently making headlines for triggering widespread protests in Los Angeles against its targeted immigration raids.

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