How Cryptocurrency and Its Owners Are Tracked

It is commonly assumed that blockchain provides anonymity. The system does not require identity verification, nor does it reveal the identity of wallet owners. Once a transaction is finalized, the only data publicly visible includes the addresses involved, the transaction value, and the time it occurred.

For those concerned with privacy, such conditions appear ideal — at least at face value.

But if everyone’s a stranger and anonymity reigns supreme, the questions practically ask themselves:

• How do investigators unmask crypto criminals?
• How do traders keep tabs on whales and legendary wallets?
• And how does the tax office manage to find hidden troves of Bitcoin in the hands of reluctant declarants?

In this article, you'll discover how blockchain wallets are tracked, how user identities can be revealed, and what crypto OSINT tools are most effective today. We’ll explore real-world examples where open-source blockchain intelligence exposed wallet owners and criminal activity.

You’ll also find a list of top crypto investigators and learn practical tips for protecting your privacy in the Web3 ecosystem.

Blockchain Explorers: The Public Eye of Web3

A blockchain explorer is like a living archive — an open book, constantly updated with every whisper of movement on the chain. Every NFT snag, every outgoing trade, every late-night swap to an exchange — it’s all documented.

One wallet address is all it takes to reveal the entire trail. Even that obscure purchase from the crypto wild west of 2017? It didn’t vanish. It never does.

Check this out: Blockchain Explorer is a window into the public blockchain

If the internet forgets nothing, then the blockchain forgets even less. Every chain has its own window into the past:

• To follow an Ethereum address, there’s Etherscan.
• For Bitcoin movements, it’s BTCScan.
• On Solana, every trace lives on Solscan.

The differences between these tools? Mostly cosmetic. What matters is the chain behind them — the memory they’re built to preserve.

To truly harness the power of a blockchain explorer, you need to identify the human behind the private key. These tools reveal more than just data — they’re often used to audit major crypto holders or track anonymous wallets with outsized gains.

Here’s a fun use case: if your partner says, “I’m all-in on crypto,” you can verify their wallet balance through a blockchain explorer. You might be surprised by what you (don’t) find.

Although these tools don’t reveal personal identities — unless the user links their address publicly — they’re the foundational resource for deeper blockchain investigation and OSINT tracking.

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Wallet Clustering

OSINT (open-source intelligence) is the practice of finding useful information in publicly accessible places. In the blockchain space, it’s about linking wallet addresses to people — and uncovering their full on-chain behavior.

The rule of thumb? If a wallet has ever touched a real-world identity, OSINT tools can track it.

Even a brief mention of a wallet online can open the door. Experts use Google Dorks to run targeted searches and isolate relevant data with surgical precision.

Top Google Dorks every crypto sleuth should know:

• Search within a specific website: Use site:x.com wallet address to find mentions of a crypto wallet on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, or any other domain.
• Exclude specific sites: Filter out irrelevant results using wallet address -site:etherscan.io to remove explorer pages from your search.
• Combine with keywords: To spot red flags, pair the address with terms like scam or hacked wallet in your query.

Spotting a wallet mention is just the starting point in blockchain forensics. The next step is clustering — linking that wallet to others it has interacted with. To evade such detection, many users operate several wallets in parallel, isolating risk in case one address gets exposed.

Blockchain forensics relies on behavioral patterns — not just addresses. Analysts scrutinize how money moves:

• when transactions occur,
• how much is sent,
• and in what sequence.

If two wallets consistently receive the same funds from the same source, they’re likely managed by one person. This grouping is called a wallet cluster — a key tool in tracing digital identities.

The infamous 2020 TwitterHack was solved thanks to clustering. The attackers used wallets that exhibited the same transactional behavior — same flow, same timing, same targets. Analysts linked the addresses into one cluster, then tracked their activity on KYC-bound exchanges and across social platforms. The digital breadcrumbs led straight to the owners.

When airdrops turn into land grabs, clustering becomes a map. That’s how LayerZero exposed Sybil attackers — users spinning up fake wallets like sock puppets to snatch extra tok

You might like: Sybil Attack: Dissociative Identity Disorder in Blockchain

With help from Nansen’s analytics engine, they detected vast webs of interlinked accounts, often in the hundreds. Even in cases where users tried to cover their tracks, recurring wallet behavior betrayed them. The chain doesn’t lie.

Of the 5.2 million wallets tracked by LayerZero, just 1.28 million passed the final filter, according to founder Bryan Pellegrino.

In crypto, your name might be hidden — but your actions speak volumes.

Tracing the Whale: How ZachXBT Lifted the Mask on Hyperliquid’s Ghost

ZachXBT, the internet’s most infamous blockchain detective, resurfaced in March 2025 with another expose: the identity of a Hyperliquid whale who turned $20 million in high-leverage trades into legend.

The investigation focused on wallets 0xe4d3 and 0xf3f4, which consistently opened 40x and 50x positions just ahead of key platform announcements. These addresses had drawn scrutiny from the community, but remained unlinked to any identity — until ZachXBT’s report.

Then came the transaction mapping. 

ZachXBT identified a network of addresses associated with the original pair:

• those that sent funds,
• those that received them,
• and several that interacted with Roobet, Binance, and BC Game exchanges.

He also traced connections to phishing infrastructure. One wallet, in particular, was receiving crypto payments for stolen credentials.

ZachXBT then scanned social media and hit gold on Twitter: one of the wallets was directly tied to @qwatio. That handle was also active on Telegram, where the same username surfaced—tightening the link between the account and the wallet.

The turning point came with wallet 0x7ab — the one that started it all. It was the launchpad for the trader’s entire operation.

From there, the path led to an online casino wallet. ZachXBT reached out to the operator, who handed over the linked user ID.

Registered in the UK, that ID pointed to William Parker — previously sentenced for stealing funds from a gambling platform.

ZachXBT pulled the thread using a blend of techniques:

• tracing on-chain flows,
• scanning social platforms,
• combing through leaked records,
• and probing public data. 

That’s how he does it. And it’s the same playbook for blockchain watchdogs like Lookonchain, Scam Sniffer, and Coffeezilla.

They’re not just chasing scammers—they’re reminding the world: crypto anonymity isn’t bulletproof.

Personalities: Who Is Coffeezilla? The YouTube Sleuth Exposing Crypto Scams

Mixers, Privacy, and the Limits of Anonymity in the Crypto Age

To avoid surveillance, some in the crypto space turn to mixers. These tools break transactions into fragments and distribute them across multiple addresses, making it harder to trace where the money came from. They’re commonly used by people who want to operate discreetly.

The best-known example is Tornado Cash.

August 2022 marked a turning point for Tornado Cash: the protocol was hit with sanctions, its developer Alexey Pertsev arrested in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Roman Storm faces a federal trial.

Though the protocol itself hasn’t been dismantled, unease lingers in the crypto ecosystem. Many believe that any wallet interacting with Tornado Cash is now quietly labeled as “suspicious” by law enforcement agencies—casting a long shadow over its users.

It’s nearly impossible to craft a set of anonymity rules that work 100% of the time in crypto—but 99% is within reach. That starts with keeping your wallet address private and ensuring your device is hardened against compromise.

Equally important: avoid creating behavioral links between wallets. Repeating transaction patterns, timing, or habits can de-anonymize you. Treat each address as if it belongs to a completely separate user.