Criminals/thieves/hackers who have been tracked via the blockchain?

[Lorenzo]

how can it be possible to track transactions that go through a coin mixer?
it thought that you enter your amount to an address and get out that amount from another batch of addresses, how can anyone track it then?
is it with the amount going in and out? because i think you can take it out in parts(?)

There are theoretical attacks depending on the number of coins/addresses in the mixing pool. Try putting a huge amount of coins into a mixer all at once and the coins which pop out the other end will most definitely be traceable back to the coins you put in.

Also, I'm not sure if it's possible with Bitmixer but another possible method might be to look at transfers to and from the mixing service. If someone knew that a transfer was sent to a mixing service, they could look for a second transaction of a similar size that takes place shortly after the first transaction. Some CoinJoin implementations such as Blockchain.info's Shared Coin can also be "broken" by comparing inputs and outputs and finding cases where they match:

http://www.coinjoinsudoku.com/advisory/

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[countryfree]

There's a serious issue with Coinbase here. If this is true, we shall boycott this company immediately. I understand that the FBI or other law enforcement agencies can track your acts, or business, but Coinbase shouldn't. I want to point out that when buy drugs with cash, US dollars, nobody sees the Bank of America, nor the Federal Reserve as having been part in your wrongdoing. Coinbase customers should be entirely free to do illegal things with BTC, and Coinbase has no right to prevent its customers from doing so, nor should it track its customers.

[DarknetMarkets]

Thanks a lot Lorenzo, and everyone else who contributed examples and discussion of this issue.

I also find that a lot of less-technical people, even those who use Bitcoin, are under the false impression that it is anonymous.

[tarsua]

Coinbase is claimed to even close down accounts for wide range of reasons, from dice site deposits, to casino and even resellng bitcoins on localbitcoins.
If they monitor these cases, i can only imagine what agencies are doing in their survailance, and blockchain analysis. My guess is how they aim for bigger fishes, and sizable seizures to justify their operation.
The only thing i dont get is, why do people still avoid using coin mixing services.

cheers

People dont use mixers because they are afraid that the mixers will run away with their money and they think it is not easy to track them down with just their address, in reality, you are anonymous untill you attach a name/username to your bitcoin address

[DarknetMarkets]

There's a serious issue with Coinbase here. If this is true, we shall boycott this company immediately. I understand that the FBI or other law enforcement agencies can track your acts, or business, but Coinbase shouldn't. I want to point out that when buy drugs with cash, US dollars, nobody sees the Bank of America, nor the Federal Reserve as having been part in your wrongdoing. Coinbase customers should be entirely free to do illegal things with BTC, and Coinbase has no right to prevent its customers from doing so, nor should it track its customers.

That Coinbase.com does this is fairly well documented. They actually follow your coins, it is not only in cases where users withdraw coins directly from coinbase to a darknet market or gambling site.

And they don't only freeze accounts for those uses. They also flagged a bunch of accounts for simply making donations to people such as gwern (gwern.net, he writes and publishes research about the darknet).

Obviously it would NOT BE SMART to donate to our site from an address linked to a coinbase account!

[satnof]

There's a serious issue with Coinbase here. If this is true, we shall boycott this company immediately. I understand that the FBI or other law enforcement agencies can track your acts, or business, but Coinbase shouldn't. I want to point out that when buy drugs with cash, US dollars, nobody sees the Bank of America, nor the Federal Reserve as having been part in your wrongdoing. Coinbase customers should be entirely free to do illegal things with BTC, and Coinbase has no right to prevent its customers from doing so, nor should it track its customers.

Guys and gals who are reading this post, stop and listen to what this dude is telling you. If you use Coinbase, find an alternative. That will teach them to mess with people.The power is in your hands. Opt to use it now.

 We can hopefully create an avalanche effect online whenever the situation calls for it. (In this case a reverse avalanche effect).

[Amph]

Coinbase is claimed to even close down accounts for wide range of reasons, from dice site deposits, to casino and even resellng bitcoins on localbitcoins.
If they monitor these cases, i can only imagine what agencies are doing in their survailance, and blockchain analysis. My guess is how they aim for bigger fishes, and sizable seizures to justify their operation.
The only thing i dont get is, why do people still avoid using coin mixing services.

cheers

People dont use mixers because they are afraid that the mixers will run away with their money and they think it is not easy to track them down with just their address, in reality, you are anonymous untill you attach a name/username to your bitcoin address

you need to attach id not your name only, your name can be a copy of another name, when you for example purchase a thing and put your name in, this isn't enough to identify you

because you can always deny that you are that person, that's why exchange ask for your ID and not your name only, only your ID(passport, drive licence ecc..) is the ultimate proof that you're that person

[Kprawn]

Only use a Bitcoin address once and then chuck it.  Is that not what gives Bitcoin it's anonymous quality?

Do not use 3rd party exchanges and payment processors. This gives central organizations the ability to control and track your spending habits.

Use mixers, in the event where you need some financial privacy. {You have the same right, when you use cash....Why not with Bitcoin?}

If you use Bitcoin for illegal stuff, you will get caught... so just give up on that idea. Keep it legal, but keep it private. 

[GingerAle]

Only use a Bitcoin address once and then chuck it.  Is that not what gives Bitcoin it's anonymous quality?


Do not use 3rd party exchanges and payment processors. This gives central organizations the ability to control and track your spending habits.

Use mixers, in the event where you need some financial privacy. {You have the same right, when you use cash....Why not with Bitcoin?}

If you use Bitcoin for illegal stuff, you will get caught... so just give up on that idea. Keep it legal, but keep it private. 

But how do you get coins to that address?

[bryant.coleman]

The Sheep Marketplace thief was caught using the transaction logs in Blockchain. Thomas Jiřikovský stole some BTC96,000 in December 2013 (at that point of time, worth more than $100 million), and was almost immediately identified by the disgruntled users. However, the Czech police arrested him only in March 2015, after verifying all the evidence. He might be the first thief, who was arrested primarily based upon the blockchain evidence. 

[jones techbit]

Tracking is not that easy as some want to paint it to be. If it was the case there would be no darknet markets or hackers getting away with theft.

[cakir]

The Sheep Marketplace thief was caught using the transaction logs in Blockchain. Thomas Jiřikovský stole some BTC96,000 in December 2013 (at that point of time, worth more than $100 million), and was almost immediately identified by the disgruntled users. However, the Czech police arrested him only in March 2015, after verifying all the evidence. He might be the first thief, who was arrested primarily based upon the blockchain evidence. 

The thing I like about bitcoin;
"No thief can hide evidence on blockchain" Everyone can see it and any person with some knowledge about how blockchain works can detect such crook people.

You can not hide your ass while using bitcoin...