Jim Lee said his move was partly due to Chainalysis “[leading] the way from the private sector in making cryptocurrency safe.”
A 29-year veteran of the United States government, including three years as chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Criminal Investigations team, has moved to a position at cryptocurrency analytics firm Chainalysis.
In an April 8 announcement, Chainalysis said Jim Lee had ended his time at the IRS and moved to become the analytics firm’s global head of capacity building. Lee said he plans to focus on “helping international agencies develop solutions against cryptocurrency-based crime.”
As the IRS’ chief of criminal investigations, Lee sometimes worked with Chainalysis to facilitate the seizure of crypto used for illicit purposes. In December 2023, he said digital assets posed a risk for financing terrorism and ransomware attacks but acknowledged most people use the technology for “legitimate purposes.”
