Summary
Chainalysis recently convened Operation Lighthouse: a multi-day sprint by law enforcement and the private sector to disrupt crypto-enabled CSAM networks.
The first-of-its-kind sprint generated 14,300 investigative leads, surfaced 7,700+ suspect accounts, and identified CSAM-linked suspects in 125 countries.
Convening 9+ law enforcement agencies, 13+ private sector partners, and specialized non-profits, Operation Lighthouse establishes a repeatable model for disrupting CSAM networks and other illicit typologies.
Child exploitation, including the sale and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, represents a particularly urgent global threat. While cryptocurrency is used in only a small fraction of CSAM-related activity, its use has grown in recent years. So too has law enforcement’s ability to trace that activity. The transparency of blockchains allows investigators to disrupt and prosecute CSAM offenders.That is why Chainalysis launched Operation Lighthouse, a multi-day operational sprint, to convert existing CSAM-related crypto intelligence into actionable investigative leads. Law enforcement and the private sector can use this data to detect offenders and use this intelligence to disrupt their networks.Built on months of data enrichment and executed through a multi-day operational sprint hosted at the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) in New York, Operation Lighthouse brought together investigators from multiple continents to target CSAM consumers, vendors, marketplace operators, and administrators.Inside the SprintOperation Lighthouse was built to turn existing CSAM-related crypto intelligence into coordinated action. Hosted at NCFTA and supported by law enforcement, private sector partners, and specialized non-profits, the sprint created a focused environment for participants to work on priority leads, share intelligence, and advance disruptions tied to CSAM-related activity.Rather than functioning as a general workshop, the operation was designed to help stakeholders work from a common mission set in a concentrated time frame. Participants used blockchain intelligence, partner collaboration, and investigative support to identify suspect activity, develop actionable leads, and support follow-on legal process and case development.This collaborative model is what made Operation Lighthouse significant. By bringing together public- and private-sector participants around a shared operational objective, the sprint demonstrated how coordinated action can accelerate investigations and help disrupt harmful networks at greater scale.Operation Lighthouse by the numbersOperation Lighthouse investigated 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses and digital identifiers, and targeted more than 100 distinct CSAM platforms, forums, and distribution networks across the surface web and dark web.The high-level results include:
