Joint OSCE-UNODC training course on cryptocurrencies and Darknet investigations held in Kazakhstan

From 19 to 23 June, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, organized a training course on cryptocurrencies and Darknet investigations at the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Around 20 representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Almaty and Karaganda Academies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office took part in the course, which was delivered by two international experts from Germany and Ukraine.

The first part of the course introduced participants to key concepts related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and enabled them to practise approaches to profiling, tracing and seizing cryptocurrencies. A representative of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, delivered a presentation on the company’s co-operation with law enforcement in criminal investigations. In the second part of the course, the participants learned about the functioning of the Tor network (which helps criminals avoid online detection) and the Darknet. They also discussed key features of the Darknet criminal landscape and approaches to conducting searches and investigations on the Darknet.

“Cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular in Kazakhstan and our country is among the world’s leaders in Bitcoin mining. As a result, cryptocurrencies are increasingly used as a means of payment for criminal activities. The focus of this week’s training is therefore highly relevant for all criminal justice practitioners,” said Maralbek Eshimov, Vice-Rector of the Law Enforcement Academy under the Prosecutor General’s Office.

This training was the third national course delivered in Kazakhstan under the OSCE extra-budgetary project “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia”, which is funded by the United States of America, Germany and the Republic of Korea. Previous trainings focused on the topics of handling digital evidence and requesting electronic evidence from abroad.