The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will work with the government business arm of digital asset data analytics company Inca Digital to explore potential national security risks posed by cryptocurrency.
Under a phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract, DARPA and Inca Digital Federal will analyze activity related to financial applications of distributed ledgers through a research project, the company said Friday.
The Inca division will also work on developing a crypto ecosystem mapping tool to evaluate related financial data and risks. The tool is meant to aid the U.S. government and the private sector in identifying how cryptocurrency impacts traditional financial systems and vice versa, as well as to shed light on how blockchain-based technologies may be linked to financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing.
“Given the increasing prevalence of digital assets, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies need to have better tools to understand how digital assets operate and how to leverage their jurisdictional authority over digital asset markets globally,” said Adam Zarazinski, CEO of Inca Digital.