Operation Lighthouse, a Chainalysis-led intelligence sprint focused on child sexual abuse material networks, investigated 29,120 cryptocurrency addresses and other digital identifiers and generated 14,300 investigative leads, according to the initial results released from the operation.
The effort also surfaced more than 7,700 suspect accounts and identified suspects in 125 countries. Organizers said those figures describe leads, accounts, and identifiers uncovered during the operation, not arrests or convictions.
A coordinated tracing effort
The operation targeted platforms, forums, and distribution networks linked to child sexual abuse material across both the surface web and the dark web. Investigators followed the movement of funds on public blockchains and combined that blockchain analysis with exchange records and evidence already held by law enforcement to work toward identifying account holders.
Operation Lighthouse was hosted in New York by the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance. Participants included law enforcement agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector partners, among them Europol, the Australian Federal Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the UK National Crime Agency.
What the first results show
The first published outcome of the sprint was 14,300 investigative leads tied to the 29,120 addresses and identifiers examined. The operation also flagged more than 7,700 suspect accounts and identified suspects linked to CSAM activity across 125 countries.
The source article drew a clear distinction between intelligence output and judicial outcomes. The published totals do not represent confirmed criminal findings, arrests, or convictions, but rather leads and accounts that investigators can pursue further.
Additional identifications by participating firms
According to the reported results, private-sector partners identified 16 registered sex offenders during the operation. Two participating companies also identified at least 150 individuals.
Those identifications sit alongside the larger pool of leads produced by the sprint and may provide separate avenues for investigators as national authorities assess and act on the material developed during the operation.
Broader context and next steps
The article places Operation Lighthouse against a wider backdrop of online abuse distribution that extends beyond cryptocurrency. The Internet Watch Foundation said it recorded 311,610 reports containing or leading to abusive material in 2025, a 7% increase from the prior year, and identified 15,031 commercial websites selling abuse imagery.
It also noted that earlier operations have already used blockchain tracing to support arrests and service disruptions, including Europol-backed action against Kidflix and other cases in which blockchain forensics linked users to transactions across platforms. Authorities expect the Lighthouse leads to feed into account restrictions, arrests, and prosecutions as investigations continue, and organizers plan to apply the same sprint model to other forms of illicit cryptocurrency activity through 2027.
Source: news.bitcoin.com