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Say what you will about crypto/blockchain in general, but Chainalysis has to have one of the coolest missions out there right now. As someone who's worked in AM

Say what you will about crypto/blockchain in general, but Chainalysis has to have one of the coolest missions out there right now. As someone who's worked in AML before, it's truly fascinating to me. If blockchain / DeFi is the "wild west" of finance right now, Chainalysis are the vigilantes.

garmaine 6y ago
Vigilantism is not cool.
Aerialoo 6y ago
The vigilantes? They are literally trying to destroy privacy and fungibility on the network. Thank god for CoinJoins.
- nitrogen 6y ago
  If that's even possible that is the network's fault.
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
    Depends on the goals and tradeoffs of the network
- X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
  vigilantes are people that go out and impose their version of justice on the world. Just because your vision of justice includes privacy & fungibility doesn't mean everyone's does.
  - hatenberg 6y ago
    Vigilantes spawn in place of formal enforcement of justice. Given that Bitcoin is designed with that void in mind it was inevitable.
    - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
      Or where they feel like their vision of justice is not being enforced.
- treebornfrog 6y ago
  Agreed. I'm not a fan of chainalysis. Monero ftw.
  - prophesi 6y ago
    I think there's room to be both a fan of Chainalysis _and_ privacy coins. The former will hopefully expedite the general adoption of the latter.
    - sgp_ 6y ago
      Exactly, people freak out when companies look at public data on an open, permissionless network. What did you expect?
- natcombs 6y ago
  > destroy privacy and fungibility on the network Do people expect privacy from the bitcoin network?
  - Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago
    The 'Noobs' and low hanging fruit do. Fortunately the internet can be used to educate, guide and inform.
    - Aerialoo 6y ago
      I can assure you that's not true, a lot of good developers like Chris Belcher are actively working towards it and even receive grants. New BIPs also propose privacy improvements. Anyone can care about privacy. It's a pseudo-anonymous network, but it can be used anonymously.
- boring_twenties 6y ago
  CoinJoin isn't a serious solution. If you want privacy, you need Monero.
  - jungans 6y ago
    Privacy is a continuum. CoinJoin offers a trade-off between privacy and convenience. It is good enough for some cases.
    - boring_twenties 6y ago
      Is it? From last week: https://medium.com/oxt-research/a-statement-on-two-discovered-vulnerabilities-in-wasabi-wallet-6e11e29a6ea8 https://medium.com/oxt-research/a-statement-on-two-discovere...
    - sgp_ 6y ago
      Is having your coins flagged by an exchange for using privacy features convenient?
      - Aerialoo 6y ago
        CoinJoins exist exactly to fix the problem of fungibility.
joshfraser 6y ago
only if you believe your money should be controlled by authoritarian governments instead of you.
deft 6y ago
They would be the cops actually. Or the police's goons.
Aaronstotle 6y ago
I see Chainalysis as free marketing for Monero.
- Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago
  It certainly has drawn attention to some of the merits of Monero.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago
The word Vigilantes might (or might not) have historic nuances that you (or them) may find unfortunate. From [1] Vigilante: a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate) broadly : a self-appointed doer of justice [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigilante https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigilante [2] https://www.forbes.com/companies/chainalysis/ https://www.forbes.com/companies/chainalysis/ [3] https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-forensics-firm-chainalysis-adds-tracing-support-for-zcash-dash https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-forensics-firm-chainalysis-a...
carterklein13 6y ago
Alright, I can't edit my post anymore but I just want to add - I see now that perhaps vigilante wasn't the right word. I was trying to fit it into a Wild West metaphor and hadn't had my coffee yet, the phrasing clearly struck a cord. I was more just trying to phrase that the blockchain world can feel lawless at times, and Chainalysis is trying to bring some order and justice to it. Maybe that's the antithesis of why Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies took off, but I personally think it's pretty sweet as someone with previous AML experience.

garmaine 6y ago

Vigilantism is not cool.

Aerialoo 6y ago

The vigilantes? They are literally trying to destroy privacy and fungibility on the network. Thank god for CoinJoins.

nitrogen 6y ago
If that's even possible that is the network's fault.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
  Depends on the goals and tradeoffs of the network
X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
vigilantes are people that go out and impose their version of justice on the world. Just because your vision of justice includes privacy & fungibility doesn't mean everyone's does.
- hatenberg 6y ago
  Vigilantes spawn in place of formal enforcement of justice. Given that Bitcoin is designed with that void in mind it was inevitable.
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
    Or where they feel like their vision of justice is not being enforced.
treebornfrog 6y ago
Agreed. I'm not a fan of chainalysis. Monero ftw.
- prophesi 6y ago
  I think there's room to be both a fan of Chainalysis _and_ privacy coins. The former will hopefully expedite the general adoption of the latter.
  - sgp_ 6y ago
    Exactly, people freak out when companies look at public data on an open, permissionless network. What did you expect?
natcombs 6y ago
> destroy privacy and fungibility on the network Do people expect privacy from the bitcoin network?
- Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago
  The 'Noobs' and low hanging fruit do. Fortunately the internet can be used to educate, guide and inform.
  - Aerialoo 6y ago
    I can assure you that's not true, a lot of good developers like Chris Belcher are actively working towards it and even receive grants. New BIPs also propose privacy improvements. Anyone can care about privacy. It's a pseudo-anonymous network, but it can be used anonymously.
boring_twenties 6y ago
CoinJoin isn't a serious solution. If you want privacy, you need Monero.
- jungans 6y ago
  Privacy is a continuum. CoinJoin offers a trade-off between privacy and convenience. It is good enough for some cases.
  - boring_twenties 6y ago
    Is it? From last week: https://medium.com/oxt-research/a-statement-on-two-discovered-vulnerabilities-in-wasabi-wallet-6e11e29a6ea8 https://medium.com/oxt-research/a-statement-on-two-discovere...
  - sgp_ 6y ago
    Is having your coins flagged by an exchange for using privacy features convenient?
    - Aerialoo 6y ago
      CoinJoins exist exactly to fix the problem of fungibility.

joshfraser 6y ago

only if you believe your money should be controlled by authoritarian governments instead of you.

deft 6y ago

They would be the cops actually. Or the police's goons.

Aaronstotle 6y ago

I see Chainalysis as free marketing for Monero.

Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago
It certainly has drawn attention to some of the merits of Monero.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Pick-A-Hill2019 6y ago

The word Vigilantes might (or might not) have historic nuances that you (or them) may find unfortunate. From [1] Vigilante: a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate) broadly : a self-appointed doer of justice [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigilante https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vigilante [2] https://www.forbes.com/companies/chainalysis/ https://www.forbes.com/companies/chainalysis/ [3] https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-forensics-firm-chainalysis-adds-tracing-support-for-zcash-dash https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-forensics-firm-chainalysis-a...

carterklein13 6y ago

Alright, I can't edit my post anymore but I just want to add - I see now that perhaps vigilante wasn't the right word. I was trying to fit it into a Wild West metaphor and hadn't had my coffee yet, the phrasing clearly struck a cord. I was more just trying to phrase that the blockchain world can feel lawless at times, and Chainalysis is trying to bring some order and justice to it. Maybe that's the antithesis of why Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies took off, but I personally think it's pretty sweet as someone with previous AML experience.