Yousaf, H;
Kappos, G;
Meiklejohn, S;
(2019)
Tracing transactions across cryptocurrency ledgers.
In:
SEC'19: Proceedings of the 28th USENIX Conference on Security Symposium.
(pp. pp. 837-850).
ACM: Berkeley (CA), USA.
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Abstract
One of the defining features of a cryptocurrency is that its ledger, containing all transactions that have ever taken place, is globally visible. As one consequence of this degree of transparency, a long line of recent research has demonstrated that--even in cryptocurrencies that are specifically designed to improve anonymity--it is often possible to track money as it changes hands, and in some cases to de-anonymize users entirely. With the recent proliferation of alternative cryptocurrencies, however, it becomes relevant to ask not only whether or not money can be traced as it moves within the ledger of a single cryptocurrency, but if it can in fact be traced as it moves across ledgers. This is especially pertinent given the rise in popularity of automated trading platforms such as ShapeShift, which make it effortless to carry out such cross-currency trades. In this paper, we use data scraped from ShapeShift over a thirteen-month period and the data from eight different blockchains to explore this question. Beyond developing new heuristics and creating new types of links across cryptocurrency ledgers, we also identify various patterns of cross-currency trades and of the general usage of these platforms, with the ultimate goal of understanding whether they serve a criminal or a profit-driven agenda.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Tracing transactions across cryptocurrency ledgers |
| Event: | SEC'19: 28th USENIX Conference on Security Symposium |
| Location: | Santa Clara (CA), USA |
| Dates: | 14th-16th August 2019 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-1-939133-06-9 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.5555/3361338.3361396 |
| Publisher version: | https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3361338.3361396 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090375 |
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