While the crypto industry’s biggest conferences compete for celebrity speakers and increasingly elaborate venues, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been quietly holding an annual gathering of its own.
The FBI’s Virtual Asset Technical Exchange, formerly known as the Virtual Currency Symposium, brings together law enforcement officials, overseas investigators and crypto-security professionals to exchange information on crypto crime, according to three previous attendees who spoke to CoinDesk.
Blockchain forensics firms, including Chainalysis and TRM Labs, are said to have attended this year’s event in September in San Antonio, Texas. Nikhil Raghuveera, co-founder and CEO of Predicate, a compliance infrastructure provider for blockchain-based financial products, gave a presentation on stablecoin compliance and GENIUS.
Representatives from the Security Alliance (SEAL), a nonprofit focused on protecting the crypto ecosystem from cyber threats, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Treasury bureau responsible for combating money laundering and illicit finance, also attended, the people said.
The FBI and Chainalysis declined to comment. TRM confirmed attendance at the event. Predicate acknowledged that the company’s CEO presented at the conference.
The invitation-only symposium is capped at about 50 private-sector vendors and partners, with total attendance running into the hundreds, two of the people said. The program combines keynote speeches, panel discussions and fireside chats with networking opportunities. Companies also demonstrated their platforms in demo rooms.
Discussions covered the illicit use of virtual assets by cartels and in terrorist financing, cyber-enabled fraud, scams, child sexual abuse material, human trafficking and violent crime, including so-called wrench attacks.
Source link
