Everyone can be a “chain detective”! Is blockchain still decentralized?
Last Friday, following the analysis of the blockchain trend, we published an article titled “XREX Analysis: Who Profits from the Creative Private Room on the Blockchain? Who is Profiting from Child Exploitation?” Since then, we have often seen netizens asking: If it is so easy to trace cryptocurrency crimes, is it still considered “decentralized”?
️ Further reading:
Who profits from the “creative private room”? XREX releases a report on tracking money flow, using four tools to trace the mastermind behind the Nth version of the private room.
I want to ask:
In traditional financial crimes, if criminal organizations have enough power, can we guarantee that they cannot delete or modify past illegal money flows and evidence through their influence and power? And can ordinary people participate in analyzing these illegal money flows?
In this case, the demonstration of the decentralized technology of blockchain lies in:
Anyone can analyze any transaction record without the need for authorization or licensing from any central authority.
All transaction records are publicly transparent and permanently stored.
Regardless of the power of criminal organizations and illegal buyers, no one can prevent anyone from analyzing their transaction records, nor can they tamper with or destroy any record.
The decentralized technology of blockchain allows anyone to analyze any transaction record without the need for authorization or licensing from any central authority.
Ensuring that “everyone has the power to supervise” is an ongoing social movement.
This is the power of decentralized blockchain accounting technology, and “decentralization” is not only a technology but also an ongoing social movement.
Perhaps in advanced countries like Taiwan, we do not need blockchain technology to give “everyone the power to analyze” and ensure that “no entity has the power to tamper with the ledger”. However, most countries in the world are not as good as Taiwan. Ensuring that people have the means to supervise society on their own is very valuable in places like Latin America and Africa.
“Everyone has the power to supervise” does not mean that the government does nothing; Taiwan’s prosecutors and police are good examples. Compared to other governments around the world, Taiwan’s prosecutors and police are at the forefront of using blockchain analysis for judicial investigations. But they cannot share ongoing cases because their work involves more than just analysis.
“Decentralization” is not only a technology but also an ongoing social movement.
Judicial police must collect sufficient evidence to facilitate prosecutors in issuing arrest warrants, gather further evidence, and ultimately, both prosecutors and police must gather enough evidence to convince the judge of guilt. However, many criminal organizations have already set up defenses during the commission of their crimes, such as innocent parties and unsuspecting individuals involved in currency exchange, and have successfully escaped conviction.
Therefore, the work of judicial investigation is tedious and cannot be made public. We cannot see most of the efforts that prosecutors and police put in. The money flow analysis report released by XREX this time is only a part of what we provide to prosecutors and police.
While using blockchain empowers everyone with the ability to analyze money flows, please do not forget to give more encouragement to our prosecutors and police. With the rapid growth of the cryptocurrency industry and the cooperation of law enforcement agencies, I expect that this year, we will see many successful arrests and convictions related to cryptocurrency crimes.
Is the invention of cryptocurrency a technology that enhances financial inclusivity or the best tool for crime?
In the 1990s, when the internet emerged, we saw almost all fraudsters starting to use email, and internal communications within criminal organizations began to use Skype, making it difficult for law enforcement to conduct investigations through communication surveillance.
Even today,
fraudsters are still extensively using Line, but not all Line usage is criminal in nature.
All criminal organizations use cash, but not all cash usage is criminal in nature. If we were to abolish cash to combat crime, there would be other problems.
Cryptocurrencies are going through this process, but what makes it different this time is that the decentralized ledger technology of cryptocurrencies not only allows everyone to participate in combating crime but also enables industries to more quickly combat illicit use through technological advancements.
For those who are interested in further understanding the use of blockchain analysis technology in criminal investigations, you can refer to the podcast series “Web3 Great Western Journey” by XREX and “Business Next” magazine. They have invited criminal investigators from the prosecutor’s office, prosecutors from the district prosecutor’s office, and international blockchain anti-money laundering analysts to share their practical experiences.
See the complete program introduction here
Opinion articles present diverse opinions and do not represent the position of “WEB3+”.
This article is authorized for reprint by:
Huang Yaowen
Proofreading and editing: Gao Jingyuan