The Big Whale: How did the events unfold from your point of view?
Nicolas Bacca: I was told about the ransom demand. From then on, I thought about it. And obviously I was a bit shocked, like a lot of people. So I asked myself: what can I contribute to improve things and be useful? Because I'm often obsessed with trying to help in difficult situations. I assumed that the police were probably already very efficient when it came to cyber and exploiting metadata. So I concentrated on another point: making sure that once the hostages were freed, the kidnappers could no longer access the funds, or as little as possible. In this kind of business, time is critical. For example, asking a platform to freeze funds or a stablecoin issuer takes time: exchanges of documents, checks, etc. It can take days. That's where I decided to step in. My goal was to create a ready-to-activate device to simultaneously send freeze requests to all possible platforms in minutes, not hours.
What organisation did you put in place?
I worked to set up a process where everything could be triggered quickly and in a coordinated way. I looked for the right people to do this. That's when I put together a team, including lawyer Sarah Compani , who has a specialism with Tether and strong contacts in several exchanges like KuCoin. She was a great help thanks to her network. I also called on the team at SEAL 911 , who are extremely efficient and deserve more recognition for their work (don't hesitate to make a donation here) . My main role was to liaise between these players and the authorities to coordinate actions and ensure that the funds could be frozen quickly, ideally within minutes of the hostages being freed. Today, we have managed to freeze a very large proportion of the funds, which is a good result.
So this is a new kind of human organisation for this type of business?
Yes, absolutely. An organisation capable of anticipating requests and triggering everything at once. A bit like what the GIGN does in the physical world, but in the virtual world. The aim was that, as soon as we had the information that the hostages had been freed, everything could be activated at the same time. This avoids wasting time, because in this kind of case, every minute counts. This model is based on extremely precise coordination between different experts and players, each with a well-defined role.
Could this organisation be remobilised for other similar cases?
Absolutely. It's a model that can be transposed. For example, if I wanted to do it on Circle's stablecoins, I wouldn't yet know exactly how to go about it, but it would be enough for experts to refer to an organisation like SEAL to increase efficiency. What I think would be useful is if every time there was an expert on a specific player, such as Tether or another platform, that person could refer to SEAL to form a network of specialists. This would make the organisation even more efficient and responsive to similar situations.
What if it were someone less important? Would the organisation be just as effective?
Yes, I think it would. It's not a question of celebrity. We're lucky in France to have efficient police forces that act quickly, no matter who's involved. The French police, like the GIGN, always act with the same diligence, whether it's a public figure or someone completely unknown. This is one of the strengths of our system, even if some may sometimes doubt it.
Have you encountered any particular difficulties? Anything that could be improved?
Everything can be improved. For example, when it comes to freezing funds, there is sometimes a lack of coordination between the different phases. But players like Tether have been incredible, with its CEO Paolo Ardoino (read his interview) himself speeding up the process. What's clear is that this was a first for everyone, so there was inevitably a period of adjustment. Later on, I think these processes will be even faster and smoother.
Could an international standard be created from this organisation?
Yes. This model can be used as a lever to speed up the actions of law enforcement agencies around the world. State or police organisations can take advantage of this structure to improve their efficiency when it comes to situations involving blockchain or crypto-currencies. It's an opportunity to accelerate the means of action.
What about funds sent on decentralised mixers?
It's not easy, but there are often correlations or actionable data. Organised crime is not always sophisticated, and criminals generally seek to convert to traditional currencies, which makes them traceable. Perfectly decentralised mixers would be very difficult to manage from a regulatory point of view, and this would limit their adoption by criminals. Exit points, where funds are converted to fiat, remain one of the keys to investigations.
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