Fredericton cybersecurity startup Gray Wolf Analytics has inked a “strategic partnership” agreement with blockchain service company SmartLedger. The deal will include some integration of the two companies' product offerings, as well as SmartLedger joining Gray Wolf’s recently announced Early Adopter Program.

“Our relationship grew out of a shared optimism for the future of blockchain technologies and a commitment to reducing their associated risk,” said Gray Wolf CEO Matthew Sampson in a press release.

“Together, by starting with scams and then expanding to future risk categories, we will work to make crypto forensics less centralized, more accessible, and more transparent.”

Under the deal, SmartLedger will “use a phased-in approach to help steer the continued scaling of (Gray Wolf’s) platform.”

Blockchain is the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Etherium. It allows for anonymous financial transactions, which can facilitate money laundering, fraud and other crimes.

But blockchain systems create ledgers that track all transactions. Gray Wolf sells digital forensics software that uses the behavioural and transactional patterns of cryptocurrency owners to investigate crimes while preserving the anonymity of legitimate users.

New Hampshire-based SmartLedger, meanwhile, sells more than 250 different pieces of blockchain-related intellectual property or technology, as well as consulting services, to other players in the industry. The company also has offices in Vermont, Virginia, Germany and Spain.

“We feel this partnership really doubles down on our commitment to placing accountability at the core of our services,” said SmartLedger CEO Shawn Ryan. “We see a huge opportunity here to intervene against crypto fraud and gain transparency into loosely correlated transactions happening on the blockchain.”