In 2013, Chris Tarbell became part of one of the most notorious episodes in Bitcoin history when he led an FBI investigation that helped identify and arrest Dread Pirate Roberts, the mastermind behind the notorious online drug and weapons marketplace Silk Road. The investigation, described in Nick Bilton’s excellent American Kingpin, involved tracing and seizing huge amounts of crypto now worth billions of dollars.
Today, Tarbell is still working with crypto but in a new capacity. He and cryptographer Matt Edman, who helped locate and extract thousands of Bitcoins from the Dread Pirate’s wallet, have just launched a company called Naxo that helps law enforcement, law firms, and others locate missing crypto.
While crypto forensics isn’t a new field—incumbent firms include Chainalysis, Elliptic, and CipherTrace (now owned by Mastercard)—Tarbell and Edman say Naxo is distinct because it is not only able to trace funds moving across blockchains but also offers a hands-on service to clients to grab the crypto back. The company’s customers include federal agencies like the Department of Justice and white-shoe law firms such as Alston & Bird.
Tarbell and Edman, who spent years at FTI and other big consulting firms, say Naxo is also building niche practice areas like helping those who own crypto but can’t access it. The pair note the company specializes as well in finding more obscure cryptocurrencies that are popular with criminals because law enforcement lacks off-the-shelf tools to trace them.
Their story is another example of how many people who made a name for themselves during the Wild West days of early Bitcoin have gone on to become leaders in what is now a mainstream industry. It also shows how there are fortunes to be made not only in stealing crypto but tracking down the crooks who do.
Jeff John Roberts
[email protected]
@jeffjohnroberts
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