TRM Labs and Crypto Giants Launch Beacon Network to Combat Crypto Crime

TRM Labs and the world’s largest exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance, have launched the Beacon Network, an initiative that seeks to combat onchain crypto crime and prevent the illicit movement of funds through offramps to the fiat ecosystem.

TRM Labs Launches Beacon Network, Targets Crypto Crime

Crypto-based crime is becoming a problem, and exchanges and institutions are now joining to prevent it. TRM Labs, a blockchain security company, has launched the Beacon Network, an initiative that combines law enforcement, investigators, payment processors, and exchanges to combat and prevent cryptocurrency crime.

The initiative is being supported by Coinbase, Binance, Paypal, Robinhood, Stripe, Kraken, Ripple, Crypto.com, Zodia Custody, Blockchain.com, Anchorage Digital, Bitfinex, HTX, Poloniex, OKX, LFJ, 1inch, Rhino.fi, Coinspot, and Changenow, among others.

The primary objective of the Beacon Network is to coordinate a quick reaction to onchain crimes and avoid funds linked to these from exiting to the fiat ecosystem via offramps. To achieve this, the network includes the collaboration of onchain sleuths such as ZachXBT and other security firms, which provide continuous monitoring to alert about these threats.

Since 2023, at least $47 billion in cryptocurrency has been sent to fraud-linked addresses, which has motivated the creation of this network. The beacon network allows law enforcement and investigators to flag addresses linked to crime or fraud, data that will be propagated quickly among the network’s participants.

If any of these funds arrive at a member exchange, an alert is generated. This would warn that the institution could be at risk of facilitating crypto-money laundering activities and other crimes. Exchanges can then act by freezing the illicit funds and preventing them from exiting to the crypto world, where detection and recovery could be more complicated.

Valerie-Leila Jaber, Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering at Coinbase, praised the implementation of such an initiative, stating that it was a “true early warning system that helps us identify and freeze illicit assets so law enforcement can recover them.”

The Beacon network is open for new participants to join, and its affiliate membership is free for verified exchanges and law enforcement partners.

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