As Block chain technology rapidly spreads, cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming new tools for organized crime and money laundering. Facing this borderless technological crime war, INTERPOL is actively enhancing its capabilities in Block chain intelligence and digital forensics. Vincent Danjean, head of INTERPOL's Cyber and Emerging Technology Laboratory, shared his observations and strategies in combating crypto asset crimes.
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ToggleMajor Challenge: Anonymity and Decentralization Make Investigation Extremely Difficult
Danjean pointed out that the primary challenge for law enforcement in investigating crypto crimes comes from the Block chain's "pseudo/anonymity". Although all transactions can be publicly queried on-chain, addresses are not directly linked to real identities, making tracking suspects difficult.
Moreover, criminals use mixers, privacy coins, and DeFi tools to hide fund flows, further increasing investigation complexity. Additionally, regulatory differences and procedural variations in cross-border cooperation often impede investigation progress.
To address these issues, INTERPOL is promoting international cooperation and upgrading Block chain intelligence capabilities, focusing on improving wallet address attribution analysis, on-chain forensic techniques, and standardizing investigation processes.
Public-Private Collaboration is Key to Solving Cases: Tracking Fund Flows with Block chain Analysis Companies
Block chain analysis companies and crypto asset service providers (such as exchanges) play crucial roles. Law enforcement agencies typically track illegal fund flows through these partners' tools, tracing from suspicious wallets to identity-verified centralized platforms.
However, such operations currently rely heavily on manual analysis and data interaction, unable to cope with the rapid expansion of crypto crimes. In the future, more public-private collaboration mechanisms, such as jointly developing scientific and verifiable analysis standards and techniques, will help improve investigation efficiency and accuracy.
Avoiding Duplicate Investigations: Cross-Border Data Sharing and Establishing Common Standards is Urgent
Danjean reminded that many cases are part of global network crimes, but because victims are distributed worldwide, law enforcement agencies often investigate separately, wasting resources.
He advocates establishing a "data interconnection" operational mechanism, such as sharing wallet address data, transaction pattern and crime method analyses, to further connect seemingly unrelated cases. This not only accelerates investigation but also helps identify larger criminal networks.
Strengthening such real-time cross-border intelligence sharing requires unified platforms and common data standards to truly achieve global Block chain investigation integration.
Automation and AI Assistance: Making Investigations Faster and More Precise
With transaction volumes surging and money laundering methods becoming more complex, traditional manual tracking methods are no longer sufficient. Criminals have already used automation technologies to accelerate fund whitewashing and confuse transaction paths, making "following the money" more difficult.
To keep up with this technological wave, Danjean emphasizes the need to introduce automation and AI technologies to assist investigations. For example, using machine learning models to detect suspicious transaction patterns in real-time and quickly process large amounts of Block chain data.
However, he also warns that AI application in judicial purposes must be approached with special caution. Because data samples are relatively limited and false signals like wash trading are high, it's crucial to maintain human review mechanisms when using AI-assisted judgments to ensure evidence's verifiability and explainability in court.
Three Key Strategies Summarized: Data-Driven + Automation + International Cooperation is Key
Regarding the future development of Block chain law enforcement, Danjean emphasized three core strategies:
Establish a globally connected investigation model: Break geographical limitations, connect cross-border criminal activities through data interconnection and case correlation techniques, and improve overall case-solving efficiency.
Embrace automation and intelligent technologies: Facing high-frequency transactions and rapidly changing criminal methods, AI and automation tools must be introduced while ensuring the legal credibility of the investigation process.
Adopt a data-centric investigation logic: Move beyond relying solely on tools, and instead use structured, shareable Block chain data as the core for case linking and pattern identification.
Danjean urged the international community to jointly establish a blockchain data analysis standard verified by evidence and promote data interoperability between systems, which will be an indispensable foundation for combating cryptocurrency asset crimes in the future.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries high risks, and its price may fluctuate dramatically. You may lose all of your principal. Please carefully assess the risks.
Trump announced the latest tariff policy at the White House this morning on 7/24, stating that the tax rate will be raised from the original 10% to 15-50%, because there are too many trading partners to negotiate with individually, so he will directly impose taxes in a "simple and clear" manner. At the same time, he also issued the "US AI Action Plan" and significantly relaxed data center regulations to fully promote the development of domestic AI industry.
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ToggleUS Global Tariffs Increased from 10% to 15-50%
Trump clearly stated that global tariffs will increase from 10% to 15-50% in the future, with countries having poor relations with the US potentially facing up to 50% tariffs. In early July, Trump had sent notification letters to 150 global trading partners, indicating tax rates would be around 10% to 15%, but no final decision was made.
US Secretary of Commerce Lutnick added that small countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa might maintain a 10% base tax rate, but this preferential treatment is no longer guaranteed.
Japan Takes the Lead, EU, South Korea, and India in Negotiations
Trump emphasized that he cannot negotiate with every country, so he wants a "very simple" tariff system and considers the tariff letters as agreements themselves. However, he also left room for negotiation, suggesting that countries willing to open their markets to US companies might see reduced tax rates.
Japan took the lead by negotiating with the US, reducing the original 25% tax rate to 15%, with conditions including removing some US product import restrictions and investing $550 billion in the US. Other trading partners like the EU, South Korea, and India are still in negotiations, hoping to reach an agreement before the August 1st deadline. Trump reiterated:
"If they are willing to open their markets to US companies, we will let them pay lower tariffs, and negotiations with the EU are a bit tense right now."
Issued the "US AI Action Plan", Promoting Energy and Data Center Construction
Simultaneously, Trump released the "US AI Action Plan", recognizing that AI development requires substantial energy and computing power. He directly named "relaxing data center regulations to promote its development" as a core strategy. Here are the key points of the plan:
- Government contracts will prioritize cutting-edge large language model (LLM) developers.
- Relax environmental regulations for data center construction to accelerate approval of construction permits.
- Strengthen the US energy grid and invest in alternative energy technologies like nuclear fusion and fission to ensure stable power supply.
He also reiterated the goal of bringing AI core chip and processor manufacturing capabilities back to the US mainland to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains.
Global Tariff Uncertainty Remains High, AI Giants' Monopoly Risks Escalate
Overall, Trump is using high tariffs to pressure for more favorable market access conditions, a negotiation strategy that seems effective but may also trigger retaliatory measures from countries worldwide, causing supply chain disruptions and increased market uncertainty.
The AI Action Plan, by relaxing environmental regulations and concentrating government contracts on technologically leading LLM developers, may further concentrate market competition and advantages among a few AI giants, potentially limiting the development space for small and medium-sized enterprises, with monopoly risks gradually emerging.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment carries high risks, and its price may fluctuate dramatically. You may lose all of your principal. Please carefully assess the risks.
