Characteristics of Bitcoin Transactions on Cryptomarkets
Chen, Xucan ; Hasan, Mohammad Al ; Skums, Pavel ; Wu, Xintao ; Feizollahi, Mohammad Javad ; Ouellet, Marie ; Sevigny, Eric L ; Maimon, David ; Wu, Yubao
Citations
Abstract
Cryptomarkets (or darknet markets) are commercial hidden-service websites that operate on The Onion Router (Tor) anonymity network. Cryptomarkets accept primarily bitcoin as payment since bitcoin is pseudonymous. Understanding bitcoin transaction patterns in cryptomarkets is important for analyzing vulnerabilities of privacy protection models in cryptocurrecies. It is also important for law enforcement to track illicit online crime activities in cryptomarkets. In this paper, we discover interesting characteristics of bitcoin transaction patterns in cryptomarkets. The results demonstrate that the privacy protection mechanism in cryptomarkets and bitcoin is vulnerable. Adversaries can easily gain valuable information for analyzing trading activities in cryptomarkets.