The Bank for International Settlement (BIS) has launched a new crypto surveillance program called “Project Atlas” in collaboration with several European banks. The project aims to gather data for comprehensive transaction surveillance of international crypto asset flows. Project Atlas is currently in the pilot phase and involves the BIS, Eurosystem, De Nederlandsche Bank, and the Deutsche Bundesbank.This Proof-of-Concept initiative retrieves and combines data from crypto exchanges with on-chain data extracted from public blockchains. It operates a Bitcoin node to collect on-chain data and links addresses to specific entities or individuals. Only information relevant to central banks’ mandates is retrieved from public and proprietary sources.In addition to data collection, Project Atlas explores the economic importance of crypto assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). It combines on- and off-chain information to create a layered approach to data vetting and tailored statistics for central banks. The motivation behind the project is the lack of reliable data in the evolving crypto market, which poses significant potential but also risks.Project Atlas aims to improve data collection methods and platform development in the crypto industry, where data is spread across protocols, market actors, and jurisdictions. The initiative brings innovation by enabling the tracking of cryptocurrency flows across different geographical regions.Cecilia Skingsley, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub, sees Project Atlas as a great example of the agency’s achievements. The data on cross-border flows can be useful for areas like payments and macroeconomic analysis. The solution will be made available on a single analytics platform, presenting the data in a user-friendly and easily accessible manner.However, this initiative raises concerns about BTC users’ privacy, potentially leading investors to shift towards privacy-centric tokens like Monero (XMR), ZCash (ZEC), and Dash (DASH). These tokens may become alternatives for investors who prefer to keep their crypto transactions private.Overall, Project Atlas aims to enhance data collection and provide valuable insights for central banks globally.

This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)

Information	Details
Geography	Europe
Countries
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	Cecilia Skingsley
Companies	De Nederlandsche Bank, Eurosystem, Deutsche Bundesbank, Bank for International Settlement
Currencies	Zcash, Monero, Dash
Securities	None