Articles

Bitcoin transactions are one of the most secure transfers of money that can happen today.  There are a few things that every bitcoin transaction consists of.  This would be the header and the input and the output. The input of a bitcoin transaction is showing that the prior balance of the wallet contains a certain number of bitcoins available to use.  These bitcoins are then transferred forward to the current transaction that is about to...

A smart contract is a set of rules that is on the part of a blockchain that will only allow the blockchain to continue when the smart contract is met.  This is almost like an agreement between two parties on what is going to happen in order to make the payment.  Parts of the contract can contain assets that the parties will then distribute among all parties of the agreement.  Think of this smart contract...

The blockchain is a relatively complex entity of information that exists on the internet and is continuously evolving.  Meaning there is an ever-expanding empire of information that we can collect from something as complicated as this virtual framework.  If this framework is to be understood, we have to explain its essential core functions. First and foremost, the blockchain acts as a verification and creation system.  To expand the blockchain means that there are people that...

There are different websites online that record all the bitcoin transactions that are occurring at any given moment in time.  If you can figure out the exact time and location of a sale, this can very easily lead you to the potential person making the transaction.  Every once in a while, though the people performing these transactions will attempt to hide their identity.  To do this, there are a few different tools that criminals will...

How bitcoins are brought into existence is through a process that we call mining. Mining a bitcoin is done through using software that connects you to the blockchain and allows you to verify transactions across the blockchain. Verifying these transactions is done through solving a series of mathematical puzzles that yield a reward in bitcoin if the block gets completely mined. This is what would drive someone to want to mine bitcoin from the blockchain....

There are three main steps to money laundering that a criminal must go through to launder their money successfully.  The three steps to money laundering are the placement stage, the transformation stage, and investment stage. The first step of placement is attempting to get the money out of your control and into another place.  What this does is removes the dirty money from your possession and puts it into the control of someone else —...

When a bitcoin purchase or trade is made, there are slight amounts of the information left behind that can lead investigators to the owner of the virtual currencies.  When you start looking deeper into this information, then you have the chance at finding the address and tracking down where the money is headed. One tool that you can use is bitcoin block explorer which summed up is a bitcoin tracker.  You insert the unparsed address,...

There are several different internet sites on the dark web that allow criminals to purchase anything from drugs to hitman.  To access these sites, you must enter the realm of the dark web.  To do so, using a tor browser along with a VPN will completely conceal the identity of the computer that is accessing the dark web.  These are the two primary tools that criminals and you should use if you are trying to...

This is very similar to conducting an investigation, but a little more information is necessary to get out of the subject to possibly gather some of this confusing intel.  The intel needed is confusing, because there is so much of it and is relatively complicated to someone who does not know what it is that they are looking for. The first thing to remember is when you are asking questions to the subject remember to...