Dave Mack

And that's when you can really connect the dots.

So crypto tracing is very powerful, but you have to have the movement of funds in order to really build an investigation.

These are FBI agents, and this is true across the federal government, IRS, criminal investigation, Homeland Security, DEA, Secret Service.

There are these cadre of crypto tracers who have access to tools like TRM and the training to really do this work.

So they're in a tool, they go to an address,

And ultimately, they're trying to understand what funds have gone into that address.

Where is that address sending funds?

But the real key, and I keep coming back to this, is you have to have funds ultimately go to a cryptocurrency exchange or some other off ramp.

Because the reality is most people can't buy stuff with crypto today.

So you still need to cash out.

And that cash out point is the key.

The problem here, and you identified it, is I think there's an open question about whether a payment has ultimately been made and whether those funds are moving.

And without funds moving, the best crypto tracers in the world at the FBI and beyond aren't really able to do much with a cryptocurrency address.

You don't.

And the reason for that is Bitcoin, unlike your bank or unlike other financial institutions, is decentralized.

But what is centralized are those cryptocurrency exchanges.

So if you set up an account at a cryptocurrency exchange, that's when you have to provide that underlying name,

address, social security number, email.

And that's when law enforcement really gets their leads from a crypto address.

When those funds go to a cryptocurrency exchange, and that's when you send your subpoena to that exchange asking for that underlying user information.