Chainalysis, the blockchain analysis company, today announced the launch of Chainalysis Kryptos, new software designed to help financial institutions better understand the risks associated with existing cryptocurrency activity and opportunities for investment.
Built on the reference data standard already trusted by government agencies across the world and more than 115 leading cryptocurrency businesses, Kryptos enables financial professionals to connect the dots between traditional financial transactions and cryptocurrency markets.
In September, Chainalysis polled 350 finance professionals and found that nearly half believe Bitcoin will be the investment class with the highest growth rate over the next 12 months, ahead of equities, fixed income, and the house pricing index. Despite their belief in Bitcoin’s growth potential, many also expressed concerns about the ability to control illicit activity facilitated by cryptocurrency and to comply with regulations, and many aren’t sure how many of their customers transact with cryptocurrency today.
Kryptos provides transparency into cryptocurrency markets and players so financial institutions can allay these compliance concerns, better understand their current risk exposure, provide banking services to cryptocurrency businesses, and build foundations for expansion into the asset class.
“We've heard grass roots excitement for cryptocurrency from financial institutions for years, and now we're focused on breaking down the barriers to entry,” said Michael Gronager, Co-Founder and CEO, Chainalysis. “Finally, financial institutions can access the transparency they need to fulfill their compliance responsibilities, meet customer demand, and seize the market opportunity they already believe in."
"Chainalysis Kryptos is a powerful tool for institutions to use to evaluate the risk profile of global industry participants and to measure their counterparty risk," said Michelle Sabins, SVP Managing Principal, Silvergate. "Access to this information in a standardized way will help institutions in this space make informed business decisions regarding who they do business with, while leveraging the power of blockchain analysis."
Kryptos provides a view into Know Your Customer (KYC) practices and blockchain transaction data for the world’s top cryptocurrency businesses. Users can access information about exchanges’ business operations, country of operation, cryptocurrency assets supported, blockchain transaction activity, and counterparties. They can also quantify their risk exposure across wire transfers or credit card transactions with detailed company information that they can run through existing transaction monitoring systems and risk models.
“Our data puts us in a position to help financial institutions enter the cryptocurrency market safely and responsibly,” said Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Chainalysis. “Not only does Kryptos help them mitigate risk and access new high-growth markets, but it will also help cryptocurrency businesses build trust with their banks. All players in the cryptocurrency ecosystem stand to benefit from increased transparency.”
Kryptos is now available in Beta and will become generally available in early 2020.