Cryptocurrency is no longer a niche concern reserved for federal task forces or financial crime specialists. From romance scams and investment fraud to narcotics trafficking and ransomware, digital currency has become a routine component of criminal investigations at every level of law enforcement. Yet for many patrol officers, detectives and even supervisors, crypto remains unfamiliar territory – abstract, technical and difficult to act on with confidence.
As crypto-related cases continue to rise, agencies face a dual challenge: learning how to investigate these crimes effectively while avoiding duplicated efforts that waste limited time and resources. One of the most significant and least visible risks in this space is the lack of deconfliction. When agencies unknowingly investigate the same wallet, suspect or network in isolation, opportunities are missed, victims wait longer for justice and investigative momentum stalls.
That reality is driving new conversations about collaboration, intelligence sharing and practical entry points for officers who may not know where to begin.
The deconfliction problem in crypto investigations
Deconfliction has long been a staple of drug enforcement, gang investigations and violent crime task forces. Officers check databases to ensure they are not working parallel investigations on the same targets. In the crypto world, however, those guardrails have historically been absent or fragmented.
“Cryptocurrency investigation is where we see the largest market gap,” said Mudassar Malik, a 21-year law enforcement veteran and active U.S. Secret Service special agent focused on white-collar crime. “Law enforcement officers – whether it’s a patrol officer or a detective – don’t really know what the first step is or what to do.”
That uncertainty is compounded by crypto’s intangible nature. Unlike traditional evidence like drugs, guns or cash, cryptocurrency exists as strings of numbers on a blockchain. Officers may encounter it during a traffic stop, a fraud report or a search warrant review, yet still be unsure how to move forward.
“If I pull over a known drug dealer today, he’s got a Bitcoin app on his phone,” Malik explained. “Even if law enforcement gets access with a warrant, what do they do after that?”
Without clear starting points or shared intelligence, agencies often operate in silos. Malik experienced this firsthand while working a crypto case, only to later discover another agency had been investigating the same suspect for months.
“There’s no reason for me to work a case for seven months if you’re working the same target,” he said. “Either we work together or one agency takes the lead.”
An intelligence hub built around collaboration
That experience helped shape Deconflict, a free, law enforcement-only intelligence hub designed to address crypto-related deconfliction at scale. Rather than functioning as a blockchain tracing or forensic tool, Deconflict serves as a centralized place for officers to determine whether someone else is already working the same crypto-related case – and to collaborate if they are.
Officers come to the platform and use it like a Google search engine, says Malik. They can search a wallet address and immediately see if someone else is working the case. If nobody is, they can report it.
In just over seven months, more than 800 law enforcement agencies have joined the platform, spanning federal, state, local, tribal and international partners across 26 countries. While federal participation continues to grow, Malik notes Deconflict’s primary users are local and state agencies where staffing shortages, limited budgets and minimal crypto expertise often intersect.
“Everybody uses us as an intelligence hub,” he said. “They report information, and we’re seeing agencies work together. It’s working.”
Lowering the barrier to entry
One of Deconflict’s defining characteristics is accessibility. Officers do not need prior crypto experience, specialized training or expensive software licenses to participate. In many cases, they don’t even need to provide traditional case details.
“Law enforcement can simply report a string of numbers – a crypto wallet address – and the type of scam,” Malik said. “It could be a romance scam, for example. Our AI on the back end maps everything out and presents it in a way that’s easy to understand.”
Officers are not required to share sensitive case data, victim names or internal case numbers. Deconflict generates its own anonymized identifiers, ensuring that even in the unlikely event of a breach, no actionable investigative details would be exposed.
This approach builds trust while encouraging participation – a critical factor in any deconfliction system. Officers receive value without compromising operational security, making it easier for agencies to engage early rather than waiting until a case is fully developed.
Automating what used to be manual
Crypto investigations are often labor-intensive. Tracing transactions across multiple wallets, identifying related activity and drafting documentation can consume countless hours, especially for investigators new to blockchain analysis.
Deconflict’s AI-driven backend is designed to reduce that burden. When an officer reports a single wallet, the system automatically identifies related wallets and transaction patterns, surfacing connections that might otherwise take days or weeks to uncover.
Malik explains that after officers report one wallet, the system does the rest. It finds counterpart wallets, maps transactions and even drafts summaries investigators can copy and paste into their own systems.
Rather than replacing forensic tools, Deconflict complements them. The platform is tool-agnostic, allowing agencies to continue using blockchain tracing solutions while benefiting from shared intelligence and deconfliction.
“We’re not a tracing tool or a forensic company,” Malik emphasized. “We’re an intelligence hub. Officers can use us from start to finish while still using their favorite tracing tool.”
A force multiplier across jurisdictions
Crypto crime rarely respects jurisdictional boundaries. Victims, suspects, exchanges and wallets may span cities, states or continents – making cross-agency collaboration essential.
Deconflict supports federal, state, local, tribal and international partners, with vetted access for allied agencies outside the U.S. This global reach allows investigators to identify overlaps early and coordinate leads rather than duplicating efforts in isolation.
“If someone sees Malik is working this case and they have leads, now we can work offline together,” Malik said.
To further address resource gaps, agencies using Deconflict can also access free blockchain tracing tools through external partnerships at no cost for up to two years. For departments facing budget constraints, this access can be a critical on-ramp into crypto investigations without significant financial investment.
Building the foundation for smarter crypto policing
Cryptocurrency is not going away. As criminals continue to adapt, law enforcement must do the same, not only by learning new technical skills but by rethinking how agencies collaborate and share intelligence.
That shift – from isolated investigation to collective awareness – represents a meaningful evolution in how law enforcement approaches emerging crime trends. By lowering barriers, protecting sensitive information and prioritizing deconfliction, platforms like Deconflict illustrate how technology can support smarter, more coordinated policing.
As crypto crime grows more complex, collaboration may be law enforcement’s most valuable asset – and deconfliction its most practical first move.
Register for Deconflict for free today.
