The AmiPRO Digital Asset investing platform is continuing to be enhanced to provide access to products and services available from our global ecosystem of strategic partners. We’re excited to share their insights with you and how their expertise contributes to the growth and innovation of the AmiPRO platform – setting new standards in Fintech and Digital Asset investing.
One of the most frequent objections we receive from advisors about investing in crypto is whether or not it is being used by criminals for money laundering. Advisors want to ensure the crypto is clean and not funding black market activities.
Verifying the provenance of a token is critical for creating trust within this new class of assets. That is why Ciphertrace cryptocurrency intelligence for anti-money laundering compliance and blockchain security has been integrated into the AmiPRO product stack. AmiPRO provides the necessary tools to verify provenance of a Digital Asset and to confirm that it is not associated with nefarious activity.
We view Ciphertrace as the leader in this space, helping AmiPRO to de-risk the process for advisors to confidently invest in Digital Assets while meeting regulatory compliance.
We interviewed Dina Manville of Ciphertrace to gain a better understanding about Decentralized Finance (DeFI) and how Ciphertrace is at the forefront of blockchain security intelligence.
Important Disclaimer: The views expressed below are Ms. Manville’s personal views and opinions, and are for educational purposes only.
What is DeFi?
DeFi is an umbrella term for peer-to-peer financial applications built on public blockchains that typically use smart contracts to execute lending, borrowing and trading activities. DeFi removes the reliance on traditional intermediaries to facilitate these types of activities. Instead, distributed software programs take input conditions, process these conditions according to a deterministic algorithm and produce some new outcome, like a state change or a new transaction. DeFi applications are powerful tools for completely redesigning the financial system into one that’s borderless, accessible and transparent.
What makes cryptocurrencies and blockchain so revolutionary?
A canonical history of transactions that have occurred is maintained by a decentralized network and, in the case of public blockchains, can be audited by anyone with access to the internet. Blockchains provide evidence that some transaction or event took place at date x and time y. A common misunderstanding is that Bitcoin users are anonymous, when in fact, they are represented by an alphanumeric string known as their public address. Onlookers can verify who (public address) holds what, when as well as a historical account of counterparties that have been interacted with. Some blockchains like Bitcoin are more transparent, while others like Monero, use enhanced cryptographic techniques to preserve user privacy and make transaction analysis more difficult.
How does Ciphertrace’s blockchain security technology work?
Ciphertrace’s technology takes information from the real world to add additional context about blockchain transactions. By doing this, CipherTrace can verify source of wealth, controlling entity, risk score, type of address and whether or not the address is controlled by a sanctioned party. Despite the archaic belief that cryptocurrencies are only used by criminals, blockchains enable the most transparent financial technologies the world has seen to date. Ciphertrace’s data overlay enables advisors to glean additional information about the blockchain to comply with anti-money laundering obligations.
What makes Ciphertrace’s approach industry-leading?
Ciphertrace is an industry leader because we maintain the highest data quality standards. Our database is fully auditable, meaning that every data point we collect is accompanied by supporting evidence. In fact, we are frequently asked to testify in court when our data is used in criminal and financial investigations. For AmiPro advisors, CipherTrace intelligence contextualizes where your Digital Asset is coming from, giving you confidence and security.
Is blockchain here to stay?
Definitely. Blockchains are like a game where the rules are mutually agreed upon and established at the outset. Anyone with access to the internet can participate, and regardless of how much money or power someone has, they can’t come in mid-game and change the rules. Blockchains can even be deployed in existing institutions and their transparency may help restore lost trust in those institutions.
This technology is evolving the human experience by distributing the validation and canonization of digital events. Many interesting opportunities lie ahead, including more efficient voting systems, better management of health care records, allowing users to own their digital identity and helping companies manage their carbon emissions. Each vote, record, digital footprint or carbon credit has its own unique cryptographic identification that can power the next phase of our digital lives.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is the most significant human revolution since the birth of the Internet.
About CipherTrace
CipherTrace, the leading cryptocurrency intelligence company, bridges virtual currencies and financial services together with fraud protection, anti-money laundering, and financial investigation solutions. CipherTrace derives superior cryptocurrency intelligence from analyzing massive amounts of validated blockchain transaction attribution. CipherTrace founders are dedicated to protecting consumer privacy and growing the blockchain economy, while defending against illicit finance. Deep expertise in cybersecurity, eCrime, payments, banking, encryption, and virtual currencies form the foundation for CipherTrace’s commercial offerings. For more information, visit CipherTrace.com, subscribe to the CipherTrace Newsletters, and follow us on Twitter @CipherTrace.
