Data analytics create value for accounting by helping to identity process improvements, manage risk and analyze complex taxation questions related to investment scenarios. Data analytics help accountants with decision making to help improve performance and allow effective decision making.

The article I found from the Wall Street Journal is title "The U.S. Cracked a $3.4 Billion Crypto Heist - And Bitcoin's Anonymity." A blockchain is a very complex database that stores information in blocks that are linked together. Investors have wallet addresses which are a series of numbers and letters used to send cryptocurrency, this provides privacy to users. Authorities had not mastered how to track people and groups on the blockchain initially but by working with crypto exchanges and blockchain-analytics companies they are able to follow transactions across criminal networks. Private and government investigators can now identify wallet address associated with terrorists, drug traffickers, money launderers and cybercriminals, all of which were supposed to be anonymous (McMillan,2023). Since every transaction is stored forever in blockchain's online ledger, if bitcoin is stolen there will be tracks to follow even though they might not know the persons name yet. Once fraudulent wallet addresses are published it makes it difficult for the criminal to convert to cash.

Data analytics can be used to confirm the amount of bitcoins a company has in reserve. Mt. Gox was a cryptocurrency exchange but it collapsed in 2014. After its collapse they did some investigating and found that thieves had stolen $600k bitcoins from the exchange. Now there are many blockchain-analytics companies to help aid in cryptocurrency investigations.

In this article, a man had stolen bitcoin that raised in value to $3.4 billion. How did they catch him? In 2020, he made the mistake of combining crypto funds the IRS had linked to thefts with legitimate funds he kept in a cryptocurrency exchange. The bitcoin exchange gave the IRS his IP address and were able to locate him, searched his home and found the digital storage devices that held digital keys to his stolen crypto fortune.