The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reportedly developing a crypto intelligence tool in response to the rise in illegal activities around cryptocurrencies in the country.
According to a CNBC report, the MHA aims to combat crypto-related crime through the Cryptocurrency Intelligence and Analysis Tool (CIAT). The project is led by a division of the MHA called the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, which is dedicated to investigating and solving cybercrime.
With CIAT, MHA will monitor crypto wallet addresses on the dark net. This facilitates the compilation of transaction records, including timestamps, dates, exchanges used and which services were performed. According to the report, it will also inform the MHA if it detects irregular or unusual crypto activities.
The report highlights that the project is a response to the rise in illegal crypto-related activities in the country. Earlier this month, an Indian software engineer reportedly lost over $120,000 to crypto fraud. A woman he met online advised the developer to invest in a crypto coin, but he could not withdraw his funds after depositing.
In July, two suspects were arrested in an alleged peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto scam in Ujjain, India. The police seized fake bank accounts, ATM cards and other documents. The suspects allegedly used fake IDs to defraud Binance P2P users.
Two Accused In Binance P2P Scam Arrested In Ujjain, India
Two defendants who defrauded people #Binance P2P was arrested by the police in Ujjain, India. Several fake bank accounts, ATM cards and documents were seized from the accused
The accused bought Fake ID Proofs and personal data… pic.twitter.com/Nt5GxhVmio
— Ajay Kashyap (@EverythingAjay) July 11, 2023
Cointelegraph reached out to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs but did not immediately receive a response.
Related: Indian state governments are encouraging the adoption of blockchain in public administration
Crypto has experienced a huge increase in adoption in India. On Sept. 12, the country tops the 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index released by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The report shows that India is number one in terms of decentralized finance amount received and centralized service amount received. Nigeria and Thailand closely followed India, according to the index.
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