Chainalysis Sues ICE Over $94 Million Blockchain Contract Awarded to Rival TRM Labs
Chainalysis has filed a lawsuit against ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in the U.S. Federal Court, alleging that the agency awarded a $94 million exclusive contract to TRM Labs without following proper procedures.
The contract, worth $94 million, was for a blockchain analysis tool and support services for the Department of Homeland Security's investigation unit. Chainalysis claims it is the largest blockchain analysis contract awarded by the U.S. government.
According to the complaint, ICE published an Information Request (RFI) on May 28 that included 18 questions related to proprietary databases, AI data retrieval, and automatic notifications to Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). However, when the final demand statement was released just under two weeks later, most of the RFI requirements were absent.
Chainalysis claims it was the only company to submit a capability statement in response to the RFI, but ICE completed a market research that deemed TRM Labs as the sole supplier capable of meeting all demands. ICE did not raise any questions during this process.