The Block: The U.S. Army is seeking info on crypto tracing tools for cybercrime investigations

The U.S. Army's principal investigative division has shown renewed interest in equipping its cybercrime team with cryptocurrency tracing tools, public records show.

A Statement of Work (SOW) published on July 10 outlines how the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command's Major Cybercrime Unit (MCU) is taking the initial step toward welcoming bids for Web-based offerings instead of software or hardware-based ones. Essentially an invitation to express interest among contractors, the SOW has a deadline of July 20.

According to the document, "[t]he web based application must provide the capability to assist law enforcement identify and stop actors who are using cryptocurrencies for illicit activity such as fraud, extortion, and money laundering."

"Application must enables[sic] users to conduct in-depth investigation into the source of cryptocurrency transactions and provides multi-currency analysis from Bitcoin to other top cryptocurrencies," it continues.

The document further explained the U.S. Army's vision for such a tool, noting:

"Objectives: To acquire web based application solution that provides a capability to support investigations where there is a nexus to virtual currency. The solution needs to be cloud-based, to support USACIDC's ability to quickly detect criminal and suspicious financial connections, identify suspicious cryptocurrency transactions, and investigate cryptocurrency connections."

Among the requirements: the ability "to spot transaction patterns and interactions with other entities" and possess "some type of visualization and/or link analysis tool to facilitate analysis of data."

The publication comes just under a year after the U.S. Army issued a pre-solicitation notice last summer.

The Pentagon, which oversees the U.S. armed forces, previously looked at the use of cryptocurrency in a wargame focused on domestic civil unrest. Documents obtained by The Intercept showed a scenario in which a Gen Z "rebellion" included the use of crypto to redistribute stolen funds.