Carlos Mak, a specialist on the Binance Investigations team, stated that many of his colleagues' backgrounds in law enforcement enhance their collaboration with partners in the field. Mak shared his statement in a July 11 post on Binance's website about the company's Law Enforcement Training Program.
"At Binance, many of us are former law enforcement officers, so we fully understand the needs of the agencies," said Mak, according to Binance. "This background informs our approach, prompting us to be proactive and efficient in assisting their case investigations. We greatly value the trust of our law enforcement partners and work closely with them in developing their cases."
According to Binance, although only a small percentage of cryptocurrency transactions are linked to "illicit activity," the growth of crypto usage has led criminal actors to seek ways to "abuse the ecosystem." The company emphasized that blockchain expertise and commercial tools are typically necessary to combat cybercrimes involving cryptocurrency. Binance said it uses its "industry-leading" Law Enforcement Training Program to share knowledge and resources with law enforcement agencies, aiming to bridge the expertise gap that emerges as new types of crime evolve in the digital finance space.
Erin West, a deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, discussed the importance of collaboration between law enforcement and crypto companies during an episode of the Crossing the Chain podcast. According to Federal Newswire, West stated that collaboration is crucial both for assisting victims of scams and for proactively identifying and disrupting criminal networks. She highlighted that blockchain transparency allows law enforcement to track stolen funds more effectively, increasing the likelihood of recovery. "That's one of the beautiful things about the blockchain," West said. "We're able to trace funds in a way that we never would have been able to before, and at a speed that we would never have been able to before." She added that training sessions provided by crypto companies are equipping more members of law enforcement to investigate crypto-related crimes.
Binance's Law Enforcement Training Program conducted more than 120 in-person and virtual training sessions last year, according to the post.
CoinMarketCap reported that Binance was launched in 2017. As of August 2022, Binance had a daily trading volume of approximately $76 billion, making it the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The platform lists more than 350 tokens and enables users to buy, sell, and store digital assets.