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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