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Analytical Tools for Blockchain:

Review, Taxonomy & Open Challenges

Anastasios Balaskas & Virginia N. L. Franqueira

Cyber Security Research Group

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Table of Contents

❖ Blockchain overview

❖ Blockchain analytical tools

❖ Thematic taxonomy of Blockchain Analytic Tools

❖ Open challenges in Blockchain analysis

❖ Conclusion & Future directions

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Blockchain Overview

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Blockchain Analysis

❖ Started to emerge in 2014

❖ Various tools to analyse blockchain using

❖ Flaw analysis

❖ Transaction relationships

❖ Answer questions like

❖ How cryptocurrency is being spent

❖ Investigate new wallets source

❖ Trace transactions

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Blockchain Explorer Example

❖ Information taken from blockchain.info

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Blockchain Explorer Tree Chart

❖ Information taken from blockchain.info

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Taxonomy of Applications

❖ Analysis of Relationships

❖ BitIodine

❖ Blockchain.info

❖ BitConduite

❖ Chainalysis & Elliptic

❖ Analysis of Metadata

❖ OpReturnTool

❖ Analysis of Money flows

❖ BitConduite

❖ BitConeView

❖ Bitcointalk.org

❖ Blockchain.info

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Taxonomy of Applications (2)

❖ Analysis of user behaviour

❖ Blockchain inspector

❖ Chainalysis

❖ Analysis of transaction fees

❖ Blockchain.info

❖ Coindesk.com

❖ BitConeView

❖ BlockSci

❖ Analysis of market / wallets

❖ Blockexplorer.com

❖ Bitcoincharts.com

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Open Challenges: Hidden Surprises

❖ Use of Blockchain for other

sort of publications

❖ Example varying from

❖ Political statements

❖ Artistic

❖ Religious

❖ Hiding illegal content

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Open Challenges: Law Enforcement

❖ Battling with pseudonymity

❖ Blockchain analytic tools

❖ Transaction history & links

❖ New Challenges

❖ New generations of cryptocurrency

❖ Mixing services

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Mixing services (coinjoin & cashshuffle)

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Conclusion

❖Where the money flows

❖ Future challenges

❖ The law enforcements’ role