Everyone can be an “online detective”! Is blockchain still decentralized?
Last Friday, following the analysis of the blockchain trend, we published the “XREX Analysis: Who Profits from the Creative Private Room on the Blockchain? Who is Behind the Exploitation of Minors?” We have since seen many netizens ask: If it is so easy to trace cryptocurrency crimes, is it still “decentralized”?
️ Further reading:
Who profits from the Creative Private Room? XREX releases a financial investigation report, using four tools to track the mastermind behind the Nth version of the room
I would like to ask:
In traditional financial crimes, if the criminal organization is powerful enough, can we guarantee that they cannot delete or modify past illegal financial flows and evidence through their influence and power? And can ordinary people participate in the analysis of these illegal financial flows?
In this case, the demonstration of decentralized blockchain technology lies in:
Anyone can analyze any transaction record without any central authority or license.
All transaction records are publicly transparent and permanently stored.
No matter how powerful the criminal group and illegal buyers are, they cannot prevent anyone from analyzing their transaction records, nor can they tamper with or destroy any record.
Decentralized blockchain technology allows anyone to analyze any transaction record without any central authority or license.
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 just a technology, it is 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 unit has the power to tamper with the ledger”. But most countries in the world are not as well-off as Taiwan. For example, the entire Latin America and Africa, it is very valuable to ensure that people have the means to self-monitor society.
“Everyone has the power to supervise” does not mean the government does nothing; Taiwan’s judiciary and police are good examples. Compared to other governments around the world, Taiwan’s judiciary and police are at the forefront of using blockchain analysis for criminal investigations. However, they cannot share ongoing cases because their work is not just analysis.
“Decentralization” is not just a technology, it is also an ongoing social movement.
Judicial police must collect sufficient evidence to facilitate prosecutors to issue arrest warrants and further collect evidence. In the end, both the prosecution and the police must gather enough evidence to convince the judge to convict. However, many criminal organizations have already prepared defense methods when committing crimes, such as the “innocent third party” and unaware individual currency traders, and have successfully evaded punishment.
Therefore, the work of criminal investigations is tedious and cannot be made public. We cannot see most of the efforts made by the police and prosecutors. The financial analysis report released by XREX this time is only part of what we provide to the police and prosecutors.
While using blockchain has given us the power to analyze financial flows, let’s not forget to encourage our police and prosecutors. With the rapid growth of the cryptocurrency industry and the cooperation of the police and prosecutors, I expect to see more successful arrests and convictions of cryptocurrency crimes this year.
Is the invention of cryptocurrency a technology that promotes financial equality or the best tool for crime?
In the 1990s, when the internet emerged, we saw almost all scams starting to use email, and illegal organizations started using Skype for internal communication to prevent the police from using wiretapping for investigation.
Even today,
Scammers still heavily use Line; however, not all Line usage is criminal in nature.
All illegal organizations use cash, but not all cash usage is criminal in nature. If we cancel cash to combat crime, there will be other problems.
Cryptocurrency is going through this process, but what makes it different this time is that the decentralized ledger technology of cryptocurrency not only allows everyone to participate in fighting crime but also enables the industry to combat illegal use more quickly 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 “Web3 Da Xi Jin” co-produced by XREX and “Digitimes,” which includes interviews with criminal investigators, prosecutors from local prosecutors’ offices, and international blockchain anti-money laundering analysts, who share their practical experiences with everyone.
Complete program introduction can be found here
Viewpoint articles present diverse opinions and do not represent the position of “WEB3+”.
This article is authorized for reprint:
Huang Yaowen
Proofread by: Gao Jingyuan