Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency is Andy Greenwood’s exploration of how law enforcement in the US and around the world have adjusted to the technology changes that have been brought about by the rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This is not the story of one investigation into one crime; it’s a broader look at the landscape. It’s bringing us along as we see how criminals are using digital currency to attempt to move money illegally (or pay for illicit goods and services) and how the police are learning and attempting to keep up.
There are a lot of crimes and a lot of individual investigators who appear and reappear in this book. I’m glad I was reading the digital Kindle version so that I can make use of the X-Ray feature to help my brain remember who everybody was. There’s a lot going on and it was sometimes difficult to keep track of all the people.
The theme of this book is cryptocurrency as used by criminals, so obviously that was the central point in each individual investigation. The crimes are different and wide-ranging, covering everything from drug sales to child endangerment. Virtually all the criminals featured here had bought into the idea that cryptocurrency is anonymous and…
