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The advent of generative AI has made it easier for scammers to target crypto and other real-time payment systems.
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Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has made its first foray into artificial intelligence by acquiring a fraud detection startup.
According to a Jan. 13 report by Business Insider, Chainalysis purchased Alterya, a tech startup that uses AI agents to detect fraud, for a reported $150 million.
The news was confirmed by Chainalysis in a separate blog post, but the financial details were not disclosed.
Chainalysis said the acquisition helps the company “provide real-time proactive fraud protection for payments and enhanced fraud detection during [the Know Your Customer process] for exchanges, blockchains and wallet providers.”
While not a household name in crypto, Alterya has contracts with industry stalwarts like Coinbase and Binance. It has reportedly monitored more than $8 billion worth of monthly transactions across both crypto and fiat channels to help detect and prevent the growing threat of “authorized fraud,” according to Chainalysis.
The deal marks Chainalysis’ second major acquisition in as many months, having announced it acquired Web3 security platform Hexagate on Dec. 19. The financial details were not disclosed.
Related: Global crackdowns target crypto scams and AI deepfake fraud
Generative AI makes fraud “more scalable”
Chainalysis described fraud and scams as the “scourge” of the financial services industry, which has bled over into crypto. As Cointelegraph recently reported, hacks and scams cost the crypto industry $3 billion in 2024 alone.
Source: PeckShieldAlert
The advent of generative AI — a type of artificial intelligence that uses machine learning to create new content — has made fraud “more scalable and affordable to conduct,” said Chainalysis.
According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), scammers have used generative AI to target cryptocurrency investments specifically.
“Criminals generate content for fraudulent websites for cryptocurrency investment fraud and other investment schemes,” the FBI warned in a Dec. 3 bulletin.
Zooming out more broadly, generative AI and the use of deepfakes are expected to cost the US economy up to $40 billion by 2027, according to Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services.
Deloitte said the dark web is flush with businesses selling deepfake and other generative AI scamming software for $20,000.
“This democratization of nefarious software is making a number of current anti-fraud tools less effective,” said Deloitte.
Magazine: Trump’s Bitcoin policy lashed in China, deepfake scammers busted: Asia Express
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
