BIGG Digital Assets (BIGG.C) announced today that their subsidiary, Blockchain Intelligence Group, has joined the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) to fight human trafficking.
The ATII is a non-profit organization established originally in Beaufort, South Carolina with a mission to combat global human trafficking by using corporate social responsibilities directly through advocacy awareness, intelligence integration, technology advancement and strategic data collaboration.
“We are honored to formally welcome the Blockchain Intelligence Group as partners in the anti-human trafficking fight and know our data sharing collaboration targeting the utilization of cryptocurrency as a facilitator of human trafficking will make a big impact in our joint efforts to disrupt the financial networks of those dealing in child exploitation, sexual and labor trafficking. We look forward to aligning our cumulative data with law enforcement, government organizations and those financial institutions and corporations practicing corporate social responsibility in the fight against modern slavery,” says Aaron Kahler, founder and CEO of ATII.
Simplified, BIGG Digital develops technology used to search Bitcoin’s blockchain, correlate certain addresses to certain potential risks, and send that information in a package to law enforcement. ATII aspires to pioneer necessary change in the approach to trafficking prevention, detection, reporting and collaboration to achieve justice and save lives. It seems like a perfect match when considering the correlation of purposes.
Here’s a short video put out to explain what ATII is and does:
Once you start going down the cryptocurrency rabbit hole—what with its privacy coins and proven connections to organized crime—it’s hard not think about the dark side of cryptocurrency. On the surface, privacy coins like Zcash, Dash and Monero, offer respite from an overbearing government, which at times seems to want to control everything about our lives. But there are times and circumstances where the actions of private individuals can be just as terrifying.
Banks and other financial institutions now train their counter-crime teams to identify the red flags off potential human trafficking, but criminals are making it harder for anti-money laundering officers to reveal and law enforcement to investigate their networks by covering their tracks using cryptocurrency and related exchanges. Crypto exchanges need to get on board with this initiative, first by cultivating a deeper understanding of how human trafficking can occur through their platforms.
Unfortunately, BIGG Digital doesn’t have an answer for privacy coins like Monero, and the human misery that can be bought with them, yet. But for Bitcoin, a currency in which a lot of illicit deals are made, it can definitely trace activity, from end to end, block to wallet and wallet to exchange. This is what makes this technology so important, because without it we’re at the mercy of the criminals.
“We are thrilled to partner with The Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative; we are proud that our unique tools are part of the solution to combat modern day slavery. This partnership is directly aligned with our values in removing the allure of criminal use of cryptocurrency,” said Lance Morginn, Blockchain Intelligence Group’s president.
BIG wants to support ATII’s mission, and they’re doing that by entering a data-sharing agreement. If they track any cryptocurrency deals to locations they believe may be involved in human trafficking and child exploitation, they will package that information and send it immediately to ATII to strengthen its database and aid in the fight against these crimes. BIG’s address attribution database will be continually updated with input from ATII’s own data.
—Joseph Morton