Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said on Monday it had acquired fraud detection startup Alterya. The deal had a price tag of $150 million, according to Business Insider.
Chainalysis, the largest company tracking illicit crypto flows on behalf of financial institutions and governments, plans to bolster its capabilities to stop scams with Alterya, CEO Jonathan Levin told CoinDesk.
The two companies attack a thematically similar problem (bad actors in the blockchain) from different positions. Chainalysis accumulates a wealth of information on crypto wallets to track where money moves. Meanwhile, Alterya uses data on scammers to block your transactions mid-stream.
“Alterya has compiled the most comprehensive set of information available on the entire financial infrastructure of scammers,” Levin said. Exchanges that connect to their data set can flag transactions initiated by potential victims, stopping crime before it happens.
Chainalysis already collects a lot of data on cryptocurrency scammers, and there is significant overlap between its internal blacklist and Alterya’s, Levin said. But the startup has an even bigger list than Chainalysis. By combining the capabilities of the two companies, it hopes to detect even more scammers.
The acquisition continues Chainalysis’ poaching of Israel-based crypto security startups, following its purchase of Hexagate last month. All teams will work from a new combined office in Tel Aviv, Levin said. That could position the company well to further tap into what it called “Israel’s very deep talent market for this type of work.”
While Chainalysis is best known for its work in the crypto space, it is now taking steps to combat financial fraud more broadly. Alterya’s AI-powered fraud models have “substantial opportunities in the traditional market,” Levin said, and the data needed to help banks and other financial institutions stop fraud.
