Blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace has filed two patent applications for tech it claims will assist authorities in tracking transactions made with the monero (XMR) cryptocurrency.
According to an announcement on Friday, the firm most recently filed a document titled âTechniques and Probabilistic Methods for Tracing Moneroâ as a follow up to the earlier âSystems and Methods for Investigating Moneroâ patent application â both arising from the firmâs work with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that began in 2019.
The filings provide technical concepts for forensic tools allowing exploration of XMR transaction flows in financial investigations.
While monero, the 16th largest cryptocurrency on CoinMarketCap, sets out to offer users more anonymous and private transactions, it is supported by 45% of darknet markets and is favored by criminals for the same properties, the company said.
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According to the firm, the patents will lay the âgroundwork for future implementationâ of entity transaction clustering. Additionally, they provide wallet identification and exchange attribution that would give law enforcement âeven more toolsâ for investigating criminal activity using XMR.
âBuilt-in obfuscation techniques are what draw in privacy advocates and criminals alike,â according to the announcement.
CipherTrace said its filings also provide concepts for visual tools and ways to trace stolen XMR, methodologies for gaining intelligence about transactions made via third-party nodes and probabilistic approaches to risk-based monero money-laundering controls.
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With some regulators eyeing privacy coins like monero, dash and zcash as a money-laundering risk, some exchanges have opted to delist them, including Colorado-based cryptocurrency exchange Shapeshift earlier in the month.