- Child Abuse Material includes forums and websites operating in the
darknet that facilitate the purchase, sale, and distribution of materials
related to sexual violence against children. These sites are often
difficult to access.
- Gambling includes entities organizing online gambling. Online gambling
can take many forms, such as typical casinos where games like blackjack
and poker, slot machines, and similar can be played, as well as sites for
betting on the outcomes of sports or esports events. Many online games do
not have appropriate licenses and AML procedures.
- High-Risk Jurisdiction includes cryptocurrency organizations based in
jurisdictions that have been sanctioned. For example, sanctions imposed
by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have listed the following
countries as sanctioned jurisdictions: Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria,
Republic of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
- The Sanctions category includes companies and individuals who have been
subjected to personal sanctions, economic/trade embargoes. Such lists
exist in the USA, EU, or UN, according to which any person under these
jurisdictions is prohibited from doing business with sanctioned entities.
Currently, this includes the OFAC SDN list. The prohibition on
transactions includes any transactions with sanctioned companies and
individuals, including subsidiaries, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency
addresses used by sanctioned entities. In some cases, persons in
jurisdictions issuing these sanctions are also required to block/freeze
assets belonging to sanctioned entities to prevent their further use or
transfer.
- Ransomware includes specialized malicious software code created to
encrypt data on a victim's computer with subsequent demands for a ransom
to decrypt this data. Cybercriminals use social engineering and phishing
schemes to deceive people and companies into downloading malicious
software.
- The Other category includes all other entities not classified into any
of the above categories.
- Seized funds refer to a category that includes addresses where funds
have been seized by law enforcement agencies.
- A Payment Service Provider in the cryptocurrency context relates to
companies that allow accepting payments from their customers. These are
also referred to as payment gateways or payment processors. These
services enable companies to accept cryptocurrency for billing and
online/offline payments.
- A Marketplace includes stores of legal goods and services that accept
cryptocurrency as a means of payment.
- The Mixer category includes websites or software used to create a gap,
a chain of transactions, allowing to confuse blockchain analytics tools
between the input and output of client funds. Mixing is done either as a
general measure of privacy or to disguise the movement of funds derived
from theft, the darknet, or other illegal sources.
- Privacy protocols are a category that includes protocols using privacy
features. The main goal of such protocols is to ensure transaction
transparency while keeping counterpart addresses hidden. This feature is
the default behavior of many privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies, such as
Monero and Secret, which does not necessarily mean that the funds have
been mixed or deliberately made difficult to track.
- Enforcement action includes companies that are part of a legal
proceeding or subject to other legal procedures by law enforcement
agencies.
- Darknet Market includes websites that operate in the darknet and are
accessible through anonymous browsers or software, such as Tor or I2P.
These sites function as darknet markets, offering for sale or advertising
illegal goods and services, such as drugs, weapons, etc.
- An Unnamed Service includes various unclassified services, service
providers, or organizations.
- Undefined refers to a category that includes undefined entities that
own a wallet.
- Dust includes transactions below the trading limits set by BitOK. The
conditions defining whether a transaction will be categorized as Dust
depend on the percentage of the category and its size.
- Unnamed Wallets include unknown wallets that arise only during the
analysis of outgoing transactions.
- Fraud Shop includes various illegal markets for selling personal data,
such as identification data, credit card data, stolen accounts, etc.
Unlike entities in the darknet, these markets are usually managed by a
single owner or team and are the sole vendor within the service.
- Illegal Service includes companies or individuals directly or
indirectly connected to entities such as darknet markets, illegal
markets, terrorist groups, hackers, etc.
- Exchange refers to platforms that include exchanges and exchangers
allowing users to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency. They represent the
most important and widely used category of entities in the cryptocurrency
industry, accounting for 90% of all funds sent by services.
- P2P Exchange includes exchangers that facilitate the purchase, sale,
and exchange of cryptocurrency between two individuals, which is not
owned by the exchanger itself. Some P2P exchangers do not require
undergoing a KYC procedure, making them attractive for money laundering
operations.
- High-Risk Exchange includes exchangers that lack mandatory KYC and
verification of their clients, have links to various illegal services,
and facilitate money laundering and terrorist financing.
- Mining is the process of creating cryptocurrency through the mining
process, which is used to generate new coins.
- Mining Pool includes specialized services where miners can pool their
resources, such as graphics processors or specialized ASIC equipment, to
jointly mine cryptocurrency. By combining mining resources, the pool has
a better chance of mining a block, and the reward is shared among all
miners according to their contribution to the mining power.
- IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) includes specialized services
related to computing and information services, such as VPNs, VPS, domain
registrars, and other types of cyber infrastructure.
- A Personal Wallet refers to verified wallets owned by specific users.
These are typically wallets where ownership and identity of the user have
been confirmed, providing a higher level of security and trust.
- A Custodial Wallet includes wallets (often referred to as 'hot
wallets') that are maintained and controlled by a third party, providing
custodial services to their users. These wallets store the user's private
keys and provide backup and security for the assets held.
- A DEX or Decentralized Exchange includes services that facilitate the
trading of cryptocurrency and tokens through automated smart contracts.
Transactions are conducted directly between users without the need for a
third party, except for the smart contract that executes the
transactions. This setup is popular among those looking to maintain
anonymity and reduce reliance on centralized authorities.
- Lending includes services that allow asset owners to lend their assets
to other parties and earn interest on these loans. Borrowers must provide
collateral exceeding the loan value to protect against price
fluctuations, ensuring the lender's security.
- A Bridge includes services that facilitate the transfer of tokens from
one blockchain to another. This process allows the movement of a sum of
tokens between blockchains without conducting a traditional transaction,
enabling seamless interoperability between different blockchain networks.
- An ICO or Initial Coin Offering includes crowdfunding platforms for new
cryptocurrency or related projects, similar to an IPO in the traditional
market. Entities behind new cryptocurrencies use ICOs to raise capital by
selling token units to investors in exchange for fiat money or
established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether.
- A Token Contract includes blockchain-based assets that can be sent and
received via a wallet. These contracts vary based on different blockchain
technologies and are used to issue tokens for ICOs, providing a
standardized approach to token issuance and management.
- Online Pharmacies refer to online stores specializing in the illegal
sale of prescription drugs or drugs that are not approved or regulated.
Similar to darknet markets, these can operate both in the darknet and the
regular internet, often trading in cryptocurrencies for anonymity.
- Scam includes fraudulent projects and services that may masquerade as
legitimate offerings, such as exchanges, mixers, ICOs, etc. These often
involve unrealistic promises of returns or deceptive schemes like pyramid
structures.
- Stolen Funds include funds that have been illicitly obtained,
particularly through hacking exchanges and services. Criminals use
sophisticated methods to divert funds from legitimate to illegitimate
ends, leading to significant financial losses.
- Terrorist Financing includes the allocation of funds to support
terrorist activities and organizations. Cryptocurrencies can be used by
these groups to obscure funding sources and facilitate transactions that
support their operations globally.
- A Smart Contract refers to blockchain-based programs that execute
automatically when predetermined conditions are met. These contracts
facilitate transactions and agreements without the need for a third
party, ensuring a secure and decentralized execution of terms.
- An NFT Marketplace includes platforms focused on issuing, selling, and
trading Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). These platforms can vary, with some
operating as decentralized exchanges or utilizing smart contracts to
manage transactions.
- A Cryptocurrency ATM provides services where cryptocurrencies can be
bought and sold for fiat money, functioning similarly to traditional ATMs
but for digital currencies.
