Calgary police and blockchain company Chainalysis launch cryptocurrency investigation centre

Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that functions as an alternative to traditional money. (Pixabay/WorldSpectrum)

Calgary police are partnering with international cryptocurrency security company Chainalysis to create a specialized investigation centre for Western Canada.

The Western Canada Cryptocurrency Investigations Centre will serve as a police training centre focussed on financial cybercrime.

Police say nearly $14 million in crypto currency-related crimes were reported in Calgary alone last year.

The crimes have been difficult to investigate because the technology is complex and the skills required of detectives very specialized.

Cryptocurrency is a digital payment system that functions as an alternative to traditional money. It doesn't use banks to conduct transactions, making it difficult to regulate or trace transactions.

Chainalysis is an American company with international reach. It describes itself as a "blockchain data platform" but it has used that data and its expertise to help law enforcement seize stolen currency and to help identify culprits.

The company has recently been involved in recovering some of the billions of dollars worth of currency stolen by North Korean hackers.

The currency is secure while its tied up in crypto "wallets" (similar to a bank account without the regulation) but the pariah state needs to convert that crypto currency into something that can be used to pay for its ballistic missile program.

It can sit dormant for months or even years - and is vulnerable to seizure by law enforcement for just minutes. That's when Chainalysis monitoring and tracing expertise give enforcement agencies a chance to grab it.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they become available…