Russia plans to build a bitcoin tracking tool to monitor crypto wallets linked to crime and terrorism

• Russia plans to build a bitcoin monitoring tool to track crypto wallets possibly linked to criminal activities, CoinDesk reported.
• The government has selected a contractor to develop the proprietary tool for roughly $200,000.
• The tool must maintain a database of crypto wallets and monitor the behavior of market participants.

Russia plans to build a bitcoin monitoring tool to track cryptocurrency wallets possibly linked to criminal activities as well as terrorism financing, CoinDesk first reported Wednesday.

The nation's financial monitoring service, Rosfinmonitoring, has tapped a firm called RCO for a contract to develop the proprietary tool for roughly $200,000, reduced from the initial price of around $270,000.

RCO is owned by one of Russia's major information technology companies.

Apart from tracking, the tool must maintain a database of cryptocurrency wallets and monitor the behavior of market participants, CoinDesk reported, citing the auction page.

As early as 2018, Russia had been looking into cryptocurrency tracking, according to CoinDesk.

Meanwhile, the UK, is considering banning anonymous cryptocurrency transactions for the same reasons - to tighten its crackdown on money laundering and terrorism financing.

Cryptocurrencies have been at the center of recent high-profile cyberattacks, demanded as ransom by criminals because transactions are either anonymous or very difficult to trace.

In the US, the Biden administration is said to be ramping up efforts to trace cryptocurrencies used in cyberattacks and is planning to offer bounties of up to $10 million for information that will help catch criminals.