DOJ seeks digital currency lawyer to join cybercrime crackdown

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking to hire a lawyer with expertise in “dark web and cryptocurrency international computer hacking and intellectual property.”

In its job listing, the DOJ said the ideal candidate is someone who can “develop and deliver technical assistance and programs on criminal investigations involving the Dark Web and cryptocurrency, with particular emphasis on Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe/Central Asia regions where sophisticated TOC threats are located; as well as, build capacity of law enforcement agencies on a range of Dark Web and cryptocurrency topics, including techniques to conduct undercover operations on the Dark Web and undercover cryptocurrency transactions, technical skills and technology to perform block-chain analysis to trace transactions, and training prosecutors to obtain and present admissible evidence related to Dark Web activity among many other activities.”

By the looks of it, the justice department, as well as several other government agencies in the United States are gearing up to crack down on digital currency-related crime.

The IRS, the Secret Service, and the Army

Recently, the IRS and Secret Service signed separate contracts with Coinbase to use its blockchain analytics platform, Coinbase Analytics. Coinbase also offered to license out Coinbase Analytics to the Drug Enforcement Administration, while the United States Army posted a statement of work saying that they are looking for a ‘Cryptocurrency Investigative Web-Based Application.’

Government agencies in the United States appear to be looking for tools that can help them identify digital currency-related crimes. Considering the job listing from the DOJ it looks like the federal department is taking it one step further and preparing to prosecute individuals that they catch committing digital currency-related crimes.

Cybercrime is on the rise

One reason that blockchain analytic tools and specialists are in high demand is because there has been an increase in digital currency-related crime. Recently, what might be the largest social media platform digital currency scam to date took place on Twitter, and beyond that, several reports were recently released indicating that cash flows originating from darknet addresses have increased year-over-year.