Chainalysis Executive: Transparency and Analytics Build Trust in Crypto

Jesse Spiro, global head of policy at blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, has said that he believes that transparency builds trust in crypto.

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Spiro addressed widespread concerns that blockchain analytics negatively affect Bitcoin’s (BTC) fungibility and explained why he believes that transparency builds trust in crypto. When he was asked what he believes would be the impact of blacklisting Bitcoin addresses on the coin’s price, he explained:

“Active financial integrity in the ecosystem could also help counter that concern that crypto is a wild west with no way of telling if you’re dealing with someone profiting off of child exploitation. In that sense, transparency and an ability to assess the activity at play, can help build trust in cryptocurrency, which is a significant part of the Chainalysis mission.”

Blacklisting doesn’t affect fungibility

Spiro also explained that he is not of the mind that blocking addresses and marking Bitcoin involved in illegal activity decreases overall value and fungibility. For instance, he explained that in the case of sanctions “BTC would be explicitly untainted by the public removal of sanctions.” Spiro also said:

“Overall, whether frozen or merely identified with problematic activity but still in circulation, the issue is less about fungibility, and more about reasonableness in how far from and what the connection to criminal activity it’s a risk to be transacting (indirect exposure etc), like with fiat (digital or not) today.”

This, according to Spiro, is why blockchain analytics are needed for institutions like cryptocurrency exchanges.

As Cointelegraph reported, Chainalysis recently launched alerts for suspicious transactions across 15 major cryptocurrencies.

With research and reporting contributions from Hisashi Oki.