Lance Morginn: Blockchain explained for businesses, law enforcement and students

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If you launch a company called BIG—the handy acronym of the Vancouver-based Blockchain Intelligence Group (CNSX: BIGG)—you need big ambitions. And the co-founder and President of BIG, Lance Morginn has plenty. They’re centered on the idea of using the blockchain’s public face in a more user-friendly way, by creating tools that more easily ‘read’ the information it contains.

Beginning with a tool for law-enforcement, the company has already expanded to create software that provides a reputation score to guide decisions about Bitcoin transactions.

BIG’s ability to analyze and present clear representations of blockchain transaction histories has already had results, including in court, Lance says: “We’ve defended some of the largest exchanges on the planet successfully.”

With more interest in Bitcoin and blockchain from regulators, the prospects for BIG look good. With regulation, Lance notes, people are required to carefully monitor transactions they make: “it’s no longer a nice to have, it’s a must have.” 

A veteran in the technology sector, Lance has witnessed the digital currency space grow exponentially. With vast amounts of data stored in transactions, he asserts that ‘search and analytics’ are a necessity.

QLUE or Quantitative Law Enforcement Unified Edge 

Since the company’s inception in 2015, Blockchain Intelligence Group found its niche catering to law enforcement through its first product QLUE—for Quantitative Law Enforcement Unified Edge.

QLUE is a visualization engine that allows investigators to follow the money flow. With QLUE, every transaction can be viewed in a matter of minutes unlike other tools which could take months, Lance explains.

A great advantage of QLUE he notes, is its ability to identify different entities in the visualization, allowing law enforcement to see who people are interacting with. This information enables law enforcement to subpoena the KYC information and de-anonymize a pseudo-anonymous person. 

QLUE is also being used in court cases involving Bitcoin. The tool simplifies the information presented to the jury by using graphics or an excel format. This in turn, helps the jury make confident decisions without having to fully understand the way digital currency works. Compliance officers subpoenaed in such cases also make use of QLUE to expedite a report.

While QLUE has made significant appearances in courtrooms around the world, in the US, BIG has been recognized at the Federal level as an expert witness testimony provider.

Bit Rank Verified

Wanting to further provide a ‘search and analytics’ oriented service, Lance developed Bit Rank Verified. The tool helps assess the risk of cryptocurrency transactions by providing an easy-to-understand risk score. “It’s a crypto equivalent of a credit score,” Lance says.  

Bit Rank Verified is used by digital banks, exchanges, ATM operators, financial institutions or just about any organization seeking confidence that funds being received did not originate from illicit, immoral or unethical sources. The software checks an address before allowing clients to transfer funds. This reduces the workload on compliance officers.

Online Certificate Course at the Blockchain Intelligence Group

The company also offers online courses to anyone who wants to learn about Bitcoin and blockchain, the dark web and how tools like theirs can aid an investigation. A series of modules and a culminating exam awaits eager learners, who are rewarded with certificates to show they are BIG Certified Cryptocurrency Investigators.

Collectively, the Blockchain Intelligence Group works with different blockchains. However, Lance admits Bitcoin SV’s mandate on regulation and transparency sets it apart. 

“Of the top 20 cryptocurrency based on market cap, BSV was an obvious one for us, just based on the other objectives and missions that they’ve got around the appearance of Bitcoin SV.”

Hear the whole of Lance Morginn’s interview in this week’s CoinGeek Conversations podcast or catch up with other recent episodes:

You can also watch the podcast video on YouTube. 

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