The US Securities and Exchange Commission has turned to blockchain analytics vendor CipherTrade to help shed light on cryptocurrency transactions on blockchains.
If the proposed $26,550.45 contract goes through, the vendor will provide support services for its CipherTrace platform, which would let SEC staff trace individual addresses, wallets, and contacts, reported ETHNews.
The regulator’s Office Acquisitions noted that the SEC would use the vendor’s CipherTrace platform to “provide specialized analytical support to SEC staff for investigations that involve tracing cryptocurrency transactions [and] to continue activities associated with the Cryptocurrency Tracing Project, via a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Advanced Research Project Agency.”
The deal, which could be inked by April 4, is expected to last up to nine months, which would consist of a three-month base period followed by two option three-month extension.
The CipherTrade transaction is that the SEC has gone to specialized tool providers to meet its cryptocurrency regulatory needs. It hired Chainanalysis to help investigate bitcoin transactions in July 2017.
The vendor also won contracts with other Federal agencies, such as the Department of the Treasury, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Internal Revenue Service, over the past three years.