Elliptic, Internet Watch Foundation Team Up to Combat Crypto Financing of Child Abuse Material

Blockchain Instichteringbedrijf Elliptic has become a member of the Internet Watch Foundation, as part of the continuous efforts to combat the financing of sexual abuse of children (CSAM) via Cryptocurrency.

The partnership between the two parties means that Elliptic gains access to the IWFs Reach of servicesinclude Virtual currency.

These warnings offer the company-based company data about cryptocurrency transactions in London in which the purchase of CSAM is demonstrated, whereby the payment networks are identified in the transactions and the wallet Addresses.

By integrating with the real -time warning system from IWF, Elliptic wants to help its customers better to prevent transactions related to child abuse and exploitation.

“IWF analysts find images and videos of some of the worst types of sexual abuse of children on websites that benefit from the sale of this horrible content,” said acting IWF CEO Derek Ray-Holl. “By working with us, Elliptic can help disrupt the spread of these criminal images and put this kind of illegal purchase in its traces.”

Last year the US senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a Bipartisan open letter to the US Department of Justice and the Ministry of Interior Security that Crypto described as the “Payment of Choice of Child Abuse Material.”

Their statement seems to be confirmed by the IWF’s annual data and insight report 2024They have established that cryptocurrencies are the most offered method of payment on commercial CSAM websites, with 60.87% of URLs that do not hide payment options that make crypto transfers possible (or 518 of the 851 web pages).

In November 2022, The IWF published a report Determine that CSAM websites that accepted crypto payments “have doubled almost every year since 2015”, although with 1,014 such sites registered in 2022, the figure has not been doubled since then.

For Elliptic, working with the IWF is to combat the distribution of CSAM a facet of its broader efforts to promote a safer digital ecosystem.

Giuseppe Fersini, Elliptic’s head of Intel, said Decrypt That the company is a ‘involved member’ of the global alliance of the IWF. “We support the vital mission of IWF, not only through the integration of relevant data in our blockchain intelligence platform, but also through active participation in strategic discussions and knowledge exchange about how payment systems, including cryptocurrencies, are operated in the division of sexual abuse of children.”

Privacy coins and crime

In recent years have witnessed an increase in CSAM websites that use Minero and other privacy points, according to A chain analysis bulletin from 2024What suggested that ‘Monero can help that CSAM suppliers [which use Monero-friendly exchanges to] survive longer. “

Such a use evokes a problem for organizations such as the IWF and Elliptic, which may struggle to trace the flow of illegal crypto as more criminals use privacytokens.

Although it acknowledges that such coins offer ‘ways to cover up the source and destination of funds’, Fersini also confirmed that they ‘often only complement with traceable assets’ and perhaps only one element in a broader obfuscation strategy.

“This trend reinforces the need for advanced solutions and high quality information,” he adds. “Elliptic accepts this challenge by offering data options that are asset-agent and optimized to detect patterns and connections, even in the light of intentional concealment.”

In terms of the future, the IWF wants to expand [its] Membership of the blockchain/crypto industry, “said the press officer Cat McShane, who reminded it Decrypt That blockchain analytics firm chainalysis also works with the non-profit organization.

She says: “It is necessary that we disrupt CSAM’s commercialization as much as possible and have organizations such as Elliptic on our side, this really helps.”