Summary
- Chainalysis recently convened Operation Lighthouse: a multi-day sprint by law enforcement and the private sector to disrupt crypto-enabled CSAM networks.
- The first-of-its-kind sprint generated 14,300 investigative leads, surfaced 7,700+ suspect accounts, and identified CSAM-linked suspects in 125 countries.
- Convening 9+ law enforcement agencies, 13+ private sector partners, and specialized non-profits, Operation Lighthouse establishes a repeatable model for disrupting CSAM networks and other illicit typologies.
Child exploitation, including the sale and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online, represents a particularly urgent global threat. While cryptocurrency is used in only a small fraction of CSAM-related activity, its use has grown in recent years. So too has law enforcement’s ability to trace that activity. The transparency of blockchains allows investigators to disrupt and prosecute CSAM offenders.
That is why Chainalysis launched Operation Lighthouse, a multi-day operational sprint, to convert existing CSAM-related crypto intelligence into actionable investigative leads. Law enforcement and the private sector can use this data to detect offenders and use this intelligence to disrupt their networks.
Built on months of data enrichment and executed through a multi-day operational sprint hosted at the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) in New York, Operation Lighthouse brought together investigators from multiple continents to target CSAM consumers, vendors, marketplace operators, and administrators.
Inside the Sprint
Operation Lighthouse was built to turn existing CSAM-related crypto intelligence into coordinated action. Hosted at NCFTA and supported by law enforcement, private sector partners, and specialized non-profits, the sprint created a focused environment for participants to work on priority leads, share intelligence, and advance disruptions tied to CSAM-related activity.
Rather than functioning as a general workshop, the operation was designed to help stakeholders work from a common mission set in a concentrated time frame. Participants used blockchain intelligence, partner collaboration, and investigative support to identify suspect activity, develop actionable leads, and support follow-on legal process and case development.
This collaborative model is what made Operation Lighthouse significant. By bringing together public- and private-sector participants around a shared operational objective, the sprint demonstrated how coordinated action can accelerate investigations and help disrupt harmful networks at greater scale.
Operation Lighthouse by the numbers
Operation Lighthouse investigated 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses and digital identifiers, and targeted more than 100 distinct CSAM platforms, forums, and distribution networks across the surface web and dark web.
The high-level results include:
- 14,300 investigative leads generated across 11 cryptocurrency exchanges and payment services
- 7,700+ suspect accounts, including 16 registered sex offenders, identified by private sector partners across exchanges and payment platforms
- Suspects identified in 125 countries
Public-private collaboration
Operation Lighthouse brought together law enforcement, nonprofit, and private-sector partners in a coordinated effort to strengthen the response to crypto-enabled child exploitation.
“Protecting our most vulnerable remains a vital priority, and the NCFTA is proud to be at the forefront of this effort. Success depends on robust and cohesive public-private partnerships, and furthering these disruptive efforts lies at the heart of the NCFTA’s mission.” — Tim Lucey, Director of Operations, The National Cyber-Forensic & Training Alliance
“Wherever possible, Europol is committed to supporting joint actions against online child sexual abuse. Perpetrators exploit financial services, payment systems, social media and internet platforms to commit or facilitate these crimes. It is therefore essential that these sectors join forces to prevent and combat online child sexual abuse and to identify those who commit, enable or facilitate it. Law enforcement agencies around the world, including Europol, are ready to contribute to this coordinated effort.” — Danny van Althuis, Team leader, Europol
“This type of public and private cooperation is essential to disrupting these CSAM-related abuses to protect vulnerable people and communities by strengthening approaches that intersect with illicit finance. The sprint also highlights how on-chain intelligence is a powerful tool that enables quick response actions collectively, as the inherent transparency of blockchain makes it difficult for criminals to hide for long while exploiting victims.” — Gavin Sather, Senior Program Manager, Anti-Child Sexual Exploitation at Binance
“At Coinbase, we believe the transparency of crypto is a powerful tool for protecting people and disrupting abuse. Operation Lighthouse shows what’s possible when law enforcement, industry, and nonprofit partners act together – turning on-chain insights into meaningful investigative leads and action against CSAM networks.” — Coinbase
“It was incredibly gratifying to contribute IWF expertise and intelligence to this global, cross-sector operation tackling the spread of child sexual abuse material. Every effort to reduce the ever-growing volume of abuse material online is vital. We know that victims and survivors can be deeply affected by the knowledge that evidence of their abuse continues to circulate online. The success of Operation Lighthouse is testament to the impact of close collaboration between like-minded organisations committed to disrupting criminal distribution networks as effectively as possible. Chainalysis’s leadership in coordinating this work is to be applauded.” — Tamsin McNally, Hotline Manager, Internet Watch Foundation
“Operation Lighthouse has shown what is possible when law enforcement, private industry, and nonprofit organizations bring their expertise together to identify and respond to child sexual exploitation. Chainalysis has been instrumental in bringing these stakeholders together and turning shared intelligence into action, helping establish a new model for collaboration against this threat while demonstrating how a cross-sector approach can help identify and disrupt networks even when illicit content is not present on financial platforms. Block is committed to working with our partners to disrupt this activity, and we’re proud to have contributed to this effort.” — Tyler Hand, Chief Compliance Officer, Block
Also participating in the sprint were the Australian Federal Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the UK’s National Crime Agency, among others.
The operation demonstrated the value of bringing partners together around a shared mission, with each contributing from their own authorities, capabilities, and areas of expertise. The effort is a model for future public-private collaboration to support child-safety investigations while remaining appropriately targeted, controlled, and operationally responsible.
Combating CSAM requires an ecosystem-wide effort
The fight against child exploitation online demands sustained, coordinated action across the public sector, private sector, and civil society. Operation Lighthouse shows what’s possible when those stakeholders come together around a shared mission, supported by blockchain intelligence. Law enforcement gains the on-chain visibility needed to identify offenders and pursue transnational networks, private sector partners gain the typologies and indicators needed to detect and remove CSAM-associated activity from their platforms, and specialized non-profits provide the evidentiary and investigative expertise that connects on-chain activity to real-world victims and offenders.
Chainalysis is committed to supporting the ecosystem in the fight against child exploitation. As the results from this sprint continue to mature into arrests, prosecutions, and account-level disruption, we look forward to sharing further updates on the impact of this work and to applying the Lighthouse model to future operations.
FAQs
What is Operation Lighthouse?
Operation Lighthouse is a first-of-its-kind, multi-stakeholder crypto intelligence sprint led by Chainalysis and hosted at NCFTA in New York. The multi-day brought together law enforcement, private sector partners, and specialized non-profits to convert existing CSAM crypto intelligence into actionable investigative leads and disruption opportunities.
What were the results of Operation Lighthouse?
Operation Lighthouse investigated 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses, generated 14,300 investigative leads, and surfaced 7,700+ suspect accounts. Suspects were identified in 125 countries, including 150+ individuals from just two private sector partners alone. Prosecutorial outcomes will continue to accrue through 2027.
How does blockchain intelligence help combat CSAM?
Blockchain intelligence enables investigators to trace cryptocurrency flows tied to CSAM platforms, vendors, and consumers across multiple blockchains, connecting on-chain activity to real-world offenders. Combined with law enforcement casework and private sector data, it allows investigators to identify suspect accounts, disrupt distribution networks, and advance prosecutions at global scale.
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