Since 2020, law enforcement agencies have carried out dozens of operations targeting darknet marketplaces, forums, cryptocurrency mixers, exchanges, and other illegal online services.
The timeline highlights the most notable public cases:
- the shutdown of a platform or seizure of its infrastructure;
- the arrest of an owner, administrator, or operator;
- the filing of charges;
- the delivery of a verdict.
Cases in which blockchain analysis played a significant role are marked in a separate color. However, it is important to distinguish between three situations:
- cryptocurrency was simply used as a payment instrument;
- transactions became part of the body of evidence;
- blockchain tracing directly helped link a service to a specific individual.
In practice, the most effective investigations usually relied not on individual transactions, but on combining them with other sources:
- seized servers;
- data from exchanges and currency-exchange services;
- digital forensics;
- controlled purchases;
- operational-security mistakes;
- information from informants and international intelligence sharing.
Therefore, a red marker on the chart does not mean that “the person was found solely through Bitcoin.” It means that the cryptocurrency trail was a verified and substantial part of the investigation.
How would you improve the infographic, and which other high-profile cases would you include?
The timeline highlights the most notable public cases:
- the shutdown of a platform or seizure of its infrastructure;
- the arrest of an owner, administrator, or operator;
- the filing of charges;
- the delivery of a verdict.
Cases in which blockchain analysis played a significant role are marked in a separate color. However, it is important to distinguish between three situations:
- cryptocurrency was simply used as a payment instrument;
- transactions became part of the body of evidence;
- blockchain tracing directly helped link a service to a specific individual.
In practice, the most effective investigations usually relied not on individual transactions, but on combining them with other sources:
- seized servers;
- data from exchanges and currency-exchange services;
- digital forensics;
- controlled purchases;
- operational-security mistakes;
- information from informants and international intelligence sharing.
Therefore, a red marker on the chart does not mean that “the person was found solely through Bitcoin.” It means that the cryptocurrency trail was a verified and substantial part of the investigation.
How would you improve the infographic, and which other high-profile cases would you include?
