An EOA Identity Tracing System (AITS) on Ethereum Blockchain

Abstract

Ethereum, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, allows for anonymous transactions and is frequently used for money laundering and scams. Although advanced scammers are hard to trace as they use sophisticated coin-mixing techniques, we argue that many generic scams only involve amateurs who manually mix transactions to avoid police detection. To counter this, centralized exchanges require users to go through Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes before exchanging tokens for fiat currency. This paper extends the anti-money laundering further by proposing An EOA Identity Tracing System (AITS), which traces the flow of crypto tokens from the thief wallet to the exchange and backtracking from the KYC’s identities to the thief’s real identity. The proposed AITS also aids investigators with the token-transferring graph that is useful for off-chain investigation. The experimental results on the 1,045 thieves’ transactions recorded over 290 days reveal behaviors that the scammers used to evade police detection.