Unable to shake the rumors, last year Wilcox did something that might seem out of character for a self-described cypherpunk: he hired the Rand Corporation, the storied non-profit consulting firm and think tank that last year did $374 million of work for state and federal agencies, most prominently the Department of Defense. Wilcox asked Rand to investigate how widely cryptocurrencies generally, and zcash specifically, were being used for criminal activities.