Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg. Andy a senior technology writer at Wired. He previously worked as a staff writer at Forbes magazine and as a contributor to their online website.
Indeed, with every great advancement or popular service, criminals manage to insert themselves to commit new types of crime. Cryptocurrency (aka Bitcoin) is the latest example of a digital advancement under exploitation, creating black markets that hide financial transactions.
Yet this powerful technology allows criminals to actually conduct business right out in the open instead of hiding drug transactions, money laundering, and human trafficking in the analog world. In fact, during the pandemic, crypto’s value simply exploded but the damage had already been done.
Internet culture quickly baked the idea on social media sites and technology blogs, especially on the digital underground (Dark web) that this technology was in fact a digital, anonymous, private money source. And more importantly to criminals it was untraceable.
This is attributed to blockchain ledgers which are deployed anonymously. Andy reveals how digital criminal empires are built on crypto. Yet we also learn of their simple mistakes resulting in their takedown. Well….kinda of a takedown.
Tracing crypto
Tracers in the Dark is a book that is very difficult to put down. The stories Andy reveals are simply stunning and in fact, some cases are disturbinly shocking. He unravels The Silk Road, the brainchild of Ross William Ulbricht known by his handle ‘Dread Pirate Roberts’ who launched the first successful dark web, Tor-based bazaar.
Operating between 2011 until 2013, Andy reveals in depth how Ulbricht launched his bitcoin web service for narcotics, guns, and literally almost every illegal service including hiring a hit man. This would be a service Ulbricht was even utilizing.
In fact, it would be FBI agents working in collaboration with federal and state agencies to discover Ulbricht’s fatal mistake. A judge sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison. At the time of his arrest, The Silk Road generated over $1 billion in crypto transactions with $80 million in bitcoin commissions. The FBI captured over $1 billion in cryptocurrency from downstream competitors and sellers alike. If you find the takedown of The Silk Road interesting in the opening chapters, then the demise of Alpha Bay beginning in Chapter 24 will be just as interesting.
Where is crypto today — post pandemic ?
So, this is where many find themselves at the crossroads. There are no government currencies or financial accounts. For many years it appeared that criminals could simply exploit these technologies without any threat of law enforcement. The blockchain is the latest technology built for good, now under criminal exploits.
Instead, this is just the tip of Andy’s book. He reveals there are actually flaws in the technology. This is certainly permitting governments, cybersecurity researchers, financial regulators, and law enforcement agencies to trace cryptocurrency transactions with an extra fine-tooth comb. Consequently this is a game changer for those hunting illegal transactions.
Yes, consider this a must read
In conclusion, Andy is a proven, talented and highly respectdd technical writer. I have enjoyed his two previous books This Machine Kills Secrets and Sandworm.