This month, we launched our inaugural Chainalysis Customer Awards Program at the Chainalysis Trace DC conference. We established this awards program to celebrate, recognize, and amplify our public sector customers who are employing novel and innovative methods to enhance safety for citizens in their jurisdictions and beyond.
Chainalysis customers were nominated for this program by various members of the company, including those from the Global Services, Customer Success, Account Executives, Solutions Architects, and Investigations teams. An internal panel of judges then reviewed all nominations based on the specific criteria for each category.
While there were many worthy nominations for each category, a single winner was chosen for each. Below are the four categories we considered and the winners for each.
Category 1: Innovation Award
The Innovation Award honors those who exemplify the spirit of innovation, showing that, through creativity and strategic use of technology, public sector organizations can significantly advance their investigative capabilities and drive positive change.
This year's winner is IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS CI)'s New York Cyber Unit. The New York Cyber Unit was created approximately two years ago and has since been behind some of the most cutting-edge investigations and indictments in the world. Broadly speaking, the team has led investigations into NFT rug pulls, NFT-approval phishing attacks, DeFi protocol exploits, and cryptocurrency mixing services which criminals use to launder money and evade sanctions. Several of the cases led to the first-ever indictments on these typologies, which speaks volumes of the technical acumen of the Agents and leadership on the team.
Category 2: Case of the Year
The Case of the Year award celebrates the outstanding efforts and achievements of public sector organizations in navigating and resolving complex crypto-related cases. It underscores the importance of expertise, innovation, and collaboration in delivering meaningful outcomes and advancing the field of investigations.
This year's winner is the FBI for its investigation into Michael Pratt, the alleged owner of the GirlsDoPorn commercial sex trafficking ring. Pratt was named to the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list in 2022. He is charged with sex trafficking crimes in connection with a scheme to coerce young women to appear in pornographic videos. The FBI was supported by our Investigations and Special Programs team during this investigation.
Category 3: Cross-Border Collaboration
The Cross Border Collaboration Award honors public sector customers who exemplify the power of collaboration, showing how working together across borders and overcoming obstacles can lead to innovative solutions and significant positive outcomes. It highlights the importance of partnership, resource sharing, and collective effort in achieving success in the public sector, especially when dealing with global technology like cryptocurrency.
This year's winners are Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Ottawa and Nova Scotia RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime (FSOC). Operation Hackstone, a collaboration between HSI – namely Special Agent Jason Conboy, a cyber investigations liaison – and Nova Scotia RCMP FSOC, involved a high-level darknet opioid vendor distributing large amounts of opioids throughout Canada and to the US via darknet markets, and receiving payment by way of cryptocurrency. Investigators were able to locate, extract, and sixteen crypto-wallets associated with the accused. In another example collaboration, HSI – Ottawa worked with the Ontario Provincial Police to identify a $100 million international processional money laundering operation using cryptocurrency.
Category 4: Bridge Builder of the Year
The Bridge Builder of the Year award celebrates the power of unity and collective action, showing that, when we work together, we can overcome even the most daunting challenges and drive our industry forward.
This year's winner is Erin West, Deputy District Attorney of Santa Clara County DA. West has created an unparalleled community through “Crypto Coalition,” a group of more than 800 members of active law enforcement on the local, state, and federal levels, committed to combating cryptocurrency-related crimes and providing educational resources for cryptocurrency training. Under Operation Shamrock, West has helped recover millions of dollars stolen in crypto.
Future collaboration with the public sector
We congratulate the four winners of this year's US Public Sector Customer Awards Program and are proud to work with leaders who are committed to adopting new technologies to boost the efficiency of investigations and protect their citizens. We look forward to collaborating with like-minded organizations and awarding exemplary customers in future awards programs.
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