Digital asset services provider RYKI has entered a partnership with Cayman Islands government agencies to support the handling and recovery of cryptocurrency and other digital assets connected to financial crime investigations.
The arrangement involves the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s Cayman Islands Bureau of Financial Investigation and the government’s Official Receiver. RYKI will provide secure custody and safeguarding of digital assets linked to active investigations and, when required through legal or regulatory processes, assist with converting those assets.
The partnership is intended to supplement the government’s existing investigative and asset recovery capabilities as authorities deal with cryptocurrency-related fraud, ransomware and cross-border financial crime cases, according to the announcement. It will operate within the existing legal and regulatory framework overseen by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and other authorities.
RYKI said its role will also include preserving digital assets subject to restraint or recovery orders, facilitating asset-sharing and transfers between jurisdictions, and providing case-specific technical advice. The company said those services could assist with the repatriation of recovered assets to requesting jurisdictions.
“Working alongside a regulated local partner with deep technical knowledge of how digital assets move gives our investigators an important additional capability,” the head of the RCIPS Cayman Islands Bureau of Financial Investigation, Victoria Templeman, said in the release. “This partnership allows us to respond more effectively when Cayman residents and businesses are targeted.”
The official receiver, the Ministry of Finance & Economic Development, added that collaboration with RYKI has helped bridge the gap between blockchain investigations and the confiscation of assets, including preserving and returning recovered virtual assets to victims.
RYKI Chief Executive Officer Lennon Sweeting said the company views cooperation with law enforcement as part of its responsibility as a regulated custodian operating in Cayman. RYKI holds a Cayman Islands virtual asset service provider licence and provides digital asset custody and over-the-counter trading services, according to the release.
