Quick take:
- Alterya leverages artificial intelligence to help identify scammers before meeting their victims.
- The company has already been working with crypto exchanges and fintech companies whilst in stealth mode including Binance, Coinbase, and Block.
- The company claims to have detected $10 billion sent to scams last year and helped customers proactively prevent fraud.
Chainalysis is doubling down on its efforts to detect fraud before it happens. The company announced the acquisition of Alterya, the AI-powered fraud detection solution that identifies scammers before they meet their victims.
Business Insider reported the deal was about $150 million, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The acquisition comes less than a month following Chainalysis’ acquisition of Israel-based Web3 security firm Hexagate, in what it termed as a signal it is moving beyond analytics and into crypto prevention.
Also based in Israel, Alterya leverages artificial intelligence to help identify scammers before meeting their victims. The company claims to have detected $10 billion sent to scams last year and helped customers proactively prevent fraud.
The company counts leading crypto exchange companies Coinabse and Binance among its early adopters with fintech company Block also among those using its service while in stealth mode.
“Fraud and scams have long been a scourge on the financial services industry, from the rise of credit card fraud to today’s sophisticated social engineering scams. Generative AI makes fraud more scalable and affordable to conduct — scammers can easily produce high-fidelity fake content and identities, deceiving users across social media and communication platforms to authorize payments under false pretences,” Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis wrote in the announcement on Monday.
Founded in 2022, Alterya secured $9.8 million in seed funding from Battery Ventures, Y Combinator, NFX, and Nyca. The company has reportedly protected over 100 million users despite largely being in stealth mode.
Commenting on Aterya’s technology effectiveness in identifying crypto wallets tied to known cryptocurrency scams, Ilan Zimmer, Coinbase’s Director of Payment & Operational Risk said: “Alterya has been a reliable partner in helping Coinbase identify wallet addresses tied to known investment scams. This collaboration has enabled us to better protect our customers and safeguard their hard-earned funds from bad actors.”
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