Crypto Recovery Specialist Asset Reality Raises $4.91M to Hire Engineers and Expand Operations

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According to a press release provided exclusively to CoinDesk, London-based Asset Reality has raised $4.91 million in seed funding to create a full service solution for crypto asset recovery.

The fundraising was led by Framework Ventures, TechStars, SGH Capital and Chris Adelsbach of Outrun Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to triple its engineering staff and expand operations.

Traditional asset recovery has been around for decades; but the decentralized nature and irreversibility of cryptocurrency transactions present a unique challenge. Asset Reality believes it can solve this conundrum by creating a one-stop shop for tracking and recovering stolen digital assets.

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The existing asset recovery system recovers only around 1% of the proceeds of crime worldwide, with the emergence of digital assets adding more complexity to these efforts, said the CEO and co-founder of Asset Reality , Aidan Larkin, in the press release.

According to blockchain security firm Certik, 2022 was the worst year for crypto in terms of hacks, scams, and attacks. The industry lost $3.7 billion due to illicit activities.

To add insult to injury, 2023 kicked off with a hack that sent shockwaves through crypto Twitter when longtime Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dash Jr. tweeted that hackers had compromised his hot and cold wallets on New Year’s Day and siphoned off over 200 bitcoins (BTC).

Dash later tagged the FBI in a follow-up tweet, though it’s unclear if law enforcement ever got involved. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (also known as CZ) was quick to offer help.

Not everyone is a developer who can catch CZ’s eye and that’s why we exist, Larkin told CoinDesk in an interview. If someone like that comes onto the platform, we take the data about their loss and distribute it through our partners and through the analytics tools. So the first action is to do exactly what CZ mentioned.

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Depending on the build, the Asset Reality team has specific experience in crypto asset recovery, including bitcoin management and liquidation in the wake of the Silk Road epic. More recently, the company has been looking into all sorts of digital assets.

We handle seized NFTs for the Belgian government, for example,” Larkin said. They will be auctioned off when the court order is issued, if the person is found guilty.

Larkin envisions a future where stolen crypto will be easily restored, just as stolen credit card funds are routinely restored today.

Asset Reality has a team of former private sector law enforcement and asset recovery practitioners. We investigated, we seized, we recovered, we went to court, Larkin explained. So he’s trying to fill this big void that currently exists where you have best practices, you have great tools, but not everything gels. This is where we come in.

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