Blockchain Alliance: Bitcoin Community Initiative To Combat Crime

Realizing the potential of bitcoin and the blockchain to be used for criminal and illegal activities, a public-private forum has been created by Bitcoin community, christened as ‘Blockchain Alliance’, the Chamber of Digital Commerce said in a press release.

The alliance has been founded by the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Coin Center and comprises of a broad coalition companies and other institutions that have come together to address public safety concerns about digital currencies and the blockchain.

Bitcoin community has been time and again rocked by various scams such as Silk Road, Mt. Gox and many others. While, bitcoin users lost millions of dollars, reputation of digital currencies also went for a toss.

Perianne Boring, President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, said, "It's no secret that Bitcoin has perception issues, which is a roadblock to mainstream adoption.  Having an open dialogue with law enforcement and policymakers will help reduce anxiety about this transformative technology."

It aims to provide a forum for open dialogue between industry and law enforcement and regulatory agencies, in order to help combat and prevent criminal activity on the blockchain. As such, it is engaged with the Department of Justice, including the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and plans to engage with other U.S. and foreign agencies as well.

In addition to the founding members, it includes industry participants such as MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative and developer Gavin Andresen, BitFinex, BitFury, BitGo, Bitnet, BitPay, BitStamp, Blockchain, Bloq, Circle, CoinBase, CoinX, ItBit, Kraken, Noble Markets, and Xapo.