TITANIUM: Tools for the Investigation of Transactions in Underground Markets

TITANIUM tool Cointel: cryptocurrency analytics functionality

Hengelo (11 April 2019)

The possibility to transfer value over the internet in a secure way is the concept the blockchain breakthrough has made possible. And nowadays this is mainly implemented by means of cryptocurrencies like: Bitcoin, Etherium, Cardano and many others. This possibility has attracted not only legal attention from researchers and actual users, but has also been of increasing interest to criminals, which use the technology for illegal activities: money laundry, trade in illicit goods, etc.

Within the well-established financial domain of banks and other institutes there are many rules, control measures and tools implemented in order to prevent, deter and prosecute criminal behaviour. Within the cryptocurrencies domain this regulation and especially tools for control are still lacking.

Law Enforcement challenge

Daily donations of cryptocurrencies to terrorist organisations, arms trade paid with cryptocurrencies on a dark-web market and ransomware attacks on companies and individuals which demand payment in cryptocurrencies are just some examples of the challenges that LEAs meet in their work in this area.

Asking for their input, LEAs have indicated at the start of the TITANIUM project they require better tooling to address these challenges more effectively and efficiently.

TITANIUM has thus tackled a complex task to provide the most effective support - combining the technological complex domain of cryptocurrencies with the criminal domain (naturally aimed at secrecy and deception) alongside a strong ethical approach adhering to the collection of data of individuals in compliance to GDPR.

The product Cointel

The Cointel product aims to support LEAs by providing cryptocurrency analytics functionality in an easy to use interface. For example, an agent can get quick access to dashboards of transactions, addresses and entities as well as our assisted search to find relevant information on the internet more efficiently. Furthermore, the product provides the agent with insights and (possible) relations between addresses and entities based on advanced clustering techniques. Cointel also provides the possibility for the law enforcing agents to get notified if a transaction is registered on an address they have marked, supporting time critical actions.

All of these functions result in more effective and more efficient investigations.

Cointel and TITANIUM

During the Titanium project the Cointel product has been enhanced with new features and a more scalable architecture. Also standardized information exchange will be made possible between different tools. The cross-sectorial approach pursued in TITANIUM, bringing the cutting-edge knowledge of the participating universities and research institutes into the SME products together with the direct LEAs feedback has shown to be of great value.


For more information about Cointel, please contact us.