building a crypto criminal database

[lebregone]

If there are big attacks to the exchanges and even to individuals who are holding a big amount of money in their wallet it will be good if there is a way to freeze the wallet of the hacker. I've been thinking if this is possible so the hacks can be lessen as they cannot use the money that they stole.

I am also wondering if someone can build a database for criminals and it can be access by anyone freely so new comers and crypto users have some informations about the hackers that are lurking out there.

[Casdinyard]

This company in South Korea is figuring out that once a cyber criminal, always a cyber criminal. They found that two separate big crypto crimes shared the same exchange account for onramping or offramping. Of course most of it was done with Bitcoin. Don't know how it will get better before getting worse.

https://thenews.asia/hyungoo-kim-tracking-cryptocurrency-cyber-crimes/

But I guess it would be hard to track those money that had been mixed in certain crypto-mixers such as Chipmixer. It strengthens a certain crypto's anonymity and deletes all of the possible footprints of where a crypto came from. But if such algorithm or an AI would be made to track each and every possible bite of footprint from a certain crypto wallet, then it isn't just criminals that could be arrested, but also those whom used mixers to mix their money for a better privacy.

It is really impossible to track all lurking criminals out there that uses Bitcoin/cryptocurrencies for their activities. Making it possible would risk the anonymity of the crypto users and even the whole crypto-world itself.

[3meek]

Database with illegal BTC turnover or suspicious transactions has long existed! It's just that not everyone has access to it! By the way, I read that even a person who uses Wasabi Wallet can get into it... Since any mixers attract the attention of law enforcement agencies!
This is done by such companies and for quite a long time! In fact, all of us have been watching for a long time!

[o_e_l_e_o]

This is done by such companies and for quite a long time!

There is a huge difference between a theoretical database of actual criminals and what blockchain analysis companies such as Chainalysis are doing. If Chainalysis are following the trial of some "tainted" bitcoin through a number of transactions, how can they reliably tell when it has changed hands? What about when it gets passed through a mixer or a coinjoin? Does the trial go cold, or do they now class all the outputs from that mixer or that coinjoin as "tainted"? And just because something was mixed does not mean it was illegal - we know that the majority of mixers' traffic is coins directly from exchanges from users simply looking to increase in their privacy.

There is, therefore, a need for a special crypto criminal database. That way, we'll be able to trace terrorists, money launders and the dark web. As highlighted in the article below, cryptocurrency is most preferred method for these criminals.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nikitamalik/2018/08/31/how-criminals-and-terrorists-use-cryptocurrency-and-how-to-stop-it/#7e02e0fe3990

First, there is no such need. Just as illegal mass surveillance has never been proven to stop a single crime or terrorist attack, a "crypto criminal database" would be nothing more than a tool for the government to spy on and monitor its citizens. Secondly, that's not what that article says at all. Here's a direct quote (emphasis mine):

While there is still no indication that digital currencies have been adopted by any terrorist organization on an institutional level, cases where terrorists have used digital currencies highlight a distinct possibility that risks could develop in the future.

Cash has always been, and still is, the preferred medium of exchanges for criminals.

[Expecto]

There are already criminal databases in every country but this specific database for crypto criminals may help fraud rate decrease in the industry substantially. I hope this system won't be indicated as needless.   

[erikoy]

There are already criminal databases in every country but this specific database for crypto criminals may help fraud rate decrease in the industry substantially. I hope this system won't be indicated as needless.   

Yeap, that is true but OP was talking about the database for cryptocurrency thief. I think it could be added as a general data base for criminals to which every country should share. I think it is possible to country that are friends or allied as we all know that not all countries are havig good relationship like north korea and south korea. In this matter, creating database for cryptocurrency theif is will be decentralized too depending on the country if they will going to add cryptocurrency thief to their existing data base for the criminals.

[nasipadang]

Do you mean creating a database of people who are involved in crypto crimes? From this solution I thought of turning blockchain technology into a database / datawarehouse of known crypto identities and addresses. I created the same thing but with different data meanings, we can make the data transparent and fill the block with criminals' data, the advantage is that the data cannot be manipulated.

[AicecreaME]

This company in South Korea is figuring out that once a cyber criminal, always a cyber criminal. They found that two separate big crypto crimes shared the same exchange account for onramping or offramping. Of course most of it was done with Bitcoin. Don't know how it will get better before getting worse.

https://thenews.asia/hyungoo-kim-tracking-cryptocurrency-cyber-crimes/

Bitcoin’s reputation has been tainted because of criminal and illegal activities. That’s why the government is itching to put their hands on our community to regulate. This is a really exhausting scenario because if that happens, bitcoin would no longer have a decentralized nature. It would suppress the freedom of users in the cryptocurrency world.

The majority are resorting to making illegal transactions to generate more money. These people use some kind of tools and algorithms that could make the address untraceable. However, not everyone is a smooth criminal, hence they were caught by the law enforcers.

If acts like these would continue, for sure most exchanger platforms would require every user to provide their personal information (use of KYC). I just hope it won’t happen because there would be no sense at all if anonymity would be sacrificed.

[Wawa2013]

With the increase in crime cases in the crypto world, every country should build a crypto criminal database. It is true that every country
already has a criminal database in general, but to prevent the development of crime in the crypto world is needed more specific databases.
This can make it easier for the police to track down fraud in the crypto world. And I am optimistic that the construction of a crypto criminal
database can reduce the number of crimes in the crypto world.

[Lizzie_Girl]

It is much easier to launder money through fiat. Crypto just leaves a trace. I don't think people understand what money laundering is. You can't just exchange between a few currencies and call it a day. You need to actually funnel the money through fake companies or legit ones fronting something other than they are. Investing or buying property. You need to redistribute it so it isn't connected to you in any way at all.

Criminals use fiat, not crypto.  They only accept it on the dark web because it is easier to use and most people wouldn't want their banking details attached to their orders. It's actually pretty obvious why they don't use fiat.
Everything on the darkweb has been available on the clear net years and years before bitcoin. Do you think the darknet is the only place black markets have ever been. You don't seem like you understand what the darknet is. They only call it that to make it seem mysterious and "dark" All it is is a bunch of unindexed files and basically junk. It's not a glad full of shady criminals doing shady things. That is hollywood. It's actually the most coring place in the world and takes you back to the days of 56k modems. There are sites there that are shady but there way more shady sites on the clear web.

I think a better idea than converting currencies would be to buy things and resell them. That way every exchange of currency is  not linked.

[Welsh]

Whenever there's databases like this they need to be transparent, and honestly there's no real easy way of going about it. Which means that bias, and other factors can very well be a motive for adding someone to the database, and without any sort of transparency way of verifying the information is true, there would be no way to have a legitimate database. Plus, there needs to be a transparent investigation for it to be worthwhile.

The intention might well be good, but without any way of verifying that information, and a way of knowing that a proper investigation has been undertaken with undeniable proof that someone is in fact guilty then unfortunately its just another collection of accusations, which may or may not be accurate.

There''s also a lot of data to collect, and what constitutes listing someone on a website as a "cyber criminal"? There's many different types of scams out there, and investigating them all would take hundreds of people dedicating the equivalent of a full time job. Just take a look at any policing system out there, and you'll soon find that there's hidden motives, bias, and outright injustice being done. Although, people like to quote the innocent before guilty saying, there's multiple instances where evidence has been ignored, and innocent people have been put behind bars, and there's a whole lot of reasons for this. We've had previous constables come out, and declare that they planted evidence, or just put someone away because the public was demanding it, and any project undertaking this behemoth task needs to try, and avoid these issues which every country has. 

Its all well, and good compiling a list, but compiling a accurate list which can be verified, and most of all trusted is going to be a very large undertaking. However, taken the above into consideration if anyone did actually pull off this it would be an incredible feat that a lot of areas in the world today could benefit from. Personally, I don't see any sort of easy route in doing so.

[3meek]

This is done by such companies and for quite a long time!

There is a huge difference between a theoretical database of actual criminals and what blockchain analysis companies such as Chainalysis are doing. If Chainalysis are following the trial of some "tainted" bitcoin through a number of transactions, how can they reliably tell when it has changed hands? What about when it gets passed through a mixer or a coinjoin? Does the trial go cold, or do they now class all the outputs from that mixer or that coinjoin as "tainted"? And just because something was mixed does not mean it was illegal - we know that the majority of mixers' traffic is coins directly from exchanges from users simply looking to increase in their privacy.

Coinjoin is not a panacea... At a minimum, your funds may be "marked" as "suspicious" in some database...
Or why Binance blocks transactions from Wasabi Wallet? Or how does Localbitcoins block transactions to some Darkmarkets?
It is believed that by using mixers or Coinjoins an average user can only attract the attention of regulatory organizations... And I'm sure there are a lot of such companies...

[o_e_l_e_o]

At a minimum, your funds may be "marked" as "suspicious" in some database...

That's kind of my point. After a coinjoin, they either give up tracking the coins, or they mark every output from that coinjoin as "suspicious". If they are following some coins which enter a coinjoin, and 50 different outputs exit that coinjoin, then what do they do? Either they give up and the coins are now "clean", or they mark every one of those 50 outputs as "suspicious", meaning they now have a 2% accuracy. Either way, they ratings are meaningless, although that doesn't stop centralized exchanges for penalizing users for no reason.

[AakZaki]

With the increase in crime cases in the crypto world, every country should build a crypto criminal database. It is true that every country
already has a criminal database in general, but to prevent the development of crime in the crypto world is needed more specific databases.
This can make it easier for the police to track down fraud in the crypto world. And I am optimistic that the construction of a crypto criminal
database can reduce the number of crimes in the crypto world.

The development of a crypto criminal database will have a negative impact on reducing the number of crimes in the crypto world, but this is still against some government regulations and still cannot be applied to some countries that do not provide regulation on crypto. Because several countries have warned that getting into the crypto world is a high risk. Losing money and fraud is one of the risks. the criminals who did it went unnoticed due to anonymous transactions.

But we'll see what changes will be made in the future.