A software program called Coinbase Tracer, accessible to clients in the public and private sectors, has been acquired by The Intercept, the Homeland Security Investigations division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The original contract was signed in August of last year, but it took Jack Poulson of the Tech Inquiry watchdog group some time to request the contract’s details under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Following a software purchase estimated to be worth over $1.3 million, ICE first paid $29,000 for a single software license.
Law enforcement and corporate compliance departments both use the intelligence-gathering tool Coinbase Tracer, formerly known as Coinbase Analytics until a name change was officially announced on April 28.
The software’s ability to quickly sort through the vast amounts of transaction data that are available on public blockchains is what gives it its power.
The FOIA document reveals that ICE can now access data from almost a dozen crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum.
According to the Intercept report, an inquiry about ICE’s intended use of the Coinbase software has gone unanswered.
Coinbase has previously conducted business with the US government, including concluding a multi-year agreement for the analytics software with the Secret Service in 2020.
It was discovered that Coinbase also provided the cloud-based service to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service earlier that year.
Brian Armstrong, the founder and CEO of Coinbase, provided an explanation of the company’s justification for providing blockchain analytics software to the US government at the time.
“Although we didn’t create the current AML [anti-money laundering] laws, there is much that could be done to make them better, but these are the requirements to legally operate a fiat-to-crypto exchange.
Transactions on public blockchains are still traceable by a wide range of people, regardless of whether Coinbase sells blockchain analytics software.
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We (at Coinbase) frequently feel like we’re in the middle of this one because we serve as a bridge between the traditional financial world and the emerging crypto world.
An official from Coinbase gave The Intercept a link to its compliance page in light of the most recent revelations, which contains the following disclaimer:
Coinbase Tracer does not use user data from Coinbase and instead obtains its information from open sources.
The Intercept report claims that a question on ICE’s intended use of the Coinbase software went unanswered.
In the past, Coinbase has done business with the US government. In 2020, it will sign a multi-year contract with the Secret Service for the analytics software.
It was uncovered that earlier in the year, Coinbase had also offered the cloud-based service to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The Intercept report claims that a question on ICE’s intended use of the Coinbase software went unanswered.
In the past, Coinbase has done business with the US government. In 2020, it will sign a multi-year contract with the Secret Service for the analytics software.
It was uncovered that earlier in the year, Coinbase had also offered the cloud-based service to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
At the time, Coinbase’s founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong, gave an explanation of the company’s rationale for giving the US government blockchain analytics tools.
