The increase in bitcoin ransom demands and hacking incidents have alerted international law enforcement agencies and governments about the involvement of bitcoin in illegal activities. This week, bitcoin startup SABR has raised $1 million USD in an early seed funding round for its blockchain monitoring and identification system.
As a consultation-like service, SABR will work with law enforcement agencies to track down bitcoin transactions, how they’re being spent and who owns them. The company stated that its patented technology, data and partnerships enable it to fully track down information about a single or a series of transactions.
“SABR integrates data from multiple blockchains, as well as other public and proprietary sources,” the SABR team explained. “SABR’s unique position and partnerships within the network underlying the decentralized digital currency ecosystem provides access and insight otherwise inaccessible.”
The team added that following bitcoin transactions is not an efficient method to track down payments, as bitcoin creates a “blind spot.” SABR claimed that its technology could have found the Dread Pirate Roberts, the administrator of the Silk Road, in a few days, instead of the years of covert investigations by the U.S. Govenment.
According to Venturebeat, SABR has already begun to attract the attention of the “U.S. Department of Justice, the White House, and other federal agencies.”
All of SABR’s clients, individuals or organizations will be assigned SABR engineers and experienced data analysts and develop a close working relationship to ensure that its clients are efficiently using the SABR software, according to the company.