Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies#

Reference of cryptocurrencies, blockchain explorers, wallet software, mixers / tumblers, exchanges, and the OFAC-sanctioned addresses operators consult during financial-flow tracking.

For sanctions screening generally, see Sanctions Lists. For blockchain analysis tools more broadly, see OSINT Sources (“Finance / crypto”).

Major chains#

Chain

Symbol

Consensus

Notes

Bitcoin

BTC

PoW (SHA-256)

The original; ~21M cap; Lightning L2.

Ethereum

ETH

PoS (since 2022)

Smart contracts; EVM; majority of DeFi + NFTs.

Litecoin

LTC

PoW (Scrypt)

BTC fork; 4x faster blocks.

Bitcoin Cash

BCH

PoW

BTC fork (2017); larger blocks.

Bitcoin SV

BSV

PoW

BCH fork.

Dogecoin

DOGE

PoW (Scrypt)

Merge-mined with LTC.

Monero

XMR

PoW (RandomX)

Privacy by default (ring sigs, stealth, RingCT).

Zcash

ZEC

PoW

Optional shielded (zk-SNARKs).

Dash

DASH

PoW + Masternode

privacy via PrivateSend.

Solana

SOL

PoH + PoS

High-throughput L1.

Avalanche

AVAX

Avalanche cons.

L1 platform; subnets.

Cardano

ADA

PoS (Ouroboros)

-

Polkadot

DOT

NPoS

Parachain platform.

Cosmos

ATOM

Tendermint BFT

Hub for the Cosmos ecosystem (IBC).

Tron

TRX

DPoS

High USDT volume.

TON

TON

PoS

Telegram-affiliated.

NEAR

NEAR

Sharded PoS

-

Polygon

MATIC / POL

PoS / zk

Ethereum L2 family.

Optimism

OP

Optimistic L2

-

Arbitrum

ARB

Optimistic L2

-

Base

Optimistic L2

Coinbase-operated.

zkSync, Starknet

ZK rollups

Ethereum L2.

Stablecoins#

Token

Symbol

Notes

Tether

USDT

Largest by mcap; multi-chain (TRX, ETH, ARB, AVAX, …).

USD Coin

USDC

Circle; multi-chain; transparent reserves.

Dai

DAI

MakerDAO; crypto-collateralised.

Frax

FRAX / FXS

fractional algorithmic.

TrueUSD

TUSD

-

PYUSD

PYUSD

PayPal USD.

PAX Gold

PAXG

1 oz gold token.

First Digital USD

FDUSD

-

sDAI / DSR

DAI staked in

MakerDAO.

Block explorers#

Chain

Explorer

Bitcoin

mempool.space, blockchain.com, blockstream.info, btc.com, blockchair.com.

Ethereum

etherscan.io, blockscout.com, ethplorer.io.

Polygon / OP /

polygonscan.com, optimistic.etherscan.io, arbiscan.io,

Arbitrum / Base

basescan.org.

BSC

bscscan.com.

Solana

solscan.io, solana.fm, explorer.solana.com.

Tron

tronscan.org.

TON

tonviewer.com, tonscan.org.

Cosmos

mintscan.io.

Bitcoin lightning

amboss.tech, 1ml.com, mempool.space (LN view).

Multi-chain

blockchair.com, oklink.com, debank.com, arkham.com.

Wallets#

Class

Examples

Hardware

Ledger (Nano S+/X), Trezor (Model T, One), Coldcard, BitBox, Foundation Passport, Keystone, Tangem.

Mobile

Trust Wallet, MetaMask Mobile, Phantom (SOL), Rainbow, Exodus, Coinbase Wallet, BlueWallet (BTC).

Browser

MetaMask, Phantom, Rabby, Frame, OKX Wallet.

Desktop

Sparrow (BTC), Wasabi (BTC + CoinJoin), Electrum (BTC), Atomic Wallet, Exodus.

Web

Coinbase, Binance, Kraken (custodial); MEW (non-custodial).

Smart-contract

Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe), multisig + module ecosystem.

Privacy

Wasabi, Samourai (BTC CoinJoin); Cake Wallet (XMR + BTC).

Privacy / mixers#

Service

Notes

Tornado Cash

Ethereum mixer; OFAC-sanctioned 2022 (smart-contract addresses on SDN); operating-related litigation ongoing.

Wasabi Wallet

BTC CoinJoin (WabiSabi protocol).

Samourai Wallet

BTC CoinJoin (Whirlpool); arrests + takedown 2024.

JoinMarket

BTC CoinJoin via market-makers.

ChipMixer

Centralized mixer; takedown 2023.

Sinbad

Centralized mixer; OFAC-sanctioned + takedown 2023.

Helix

Centralized mixer; pre-2020 takedown.

Cake / Monerujo

XMR-only wallets.

RAILGUN

ZK privacy on Ethereum.

Aztec / Penumbra

privacy L2 / chain.

Exchanges (CEX)#

Exchange

Notes

Binance

largest by volume; banned in many jurisdictions.

Coinbase

US-listed; KYC-strict.

Kraken

US-incorporated.

OKX

SE Asia + global.

Bybit

SE Asia + global; large derivatives.

Bitfinex

Tether-affiliated.

KuCoin HTX (Huobi) Gate.io

global.

Bitstamp Crypto.com MEXC, Bitget Coincheck (JP)

EU-licensed.

Bithumb (KR), Upbit

(KR)

WazirX (IN), CoinDC

X (IN)

Mercado Bitcoin (BR Luno (ZA)

), Bitso (MX)

Garantex (RU)

OFAC-sanctioned 2022.

DEX / DeFi protocols#

Protocol

Notes

Uniswap (v2, v3, v4

) Ethereum + L2; AMM.

Curve

stablecoin AMM.

Balancer

multi-asset AMM.

Aave

lending.

Compound

lending.

MakerDAO

DAI issuance.

Lido

liquid staking.

EigenLayer

restaking.

Pendle

yield trading.

GMX, dYdX

perpetuals.

Hyperliquid

perpetuals (own L1).

Jupiter (SOL)

DEX aggregator.

Orca, Raydium

Solana DEXes.

PancakeSwap

BSC.

SushiSwap

multi-chain.

1inch, 0x, ParaSwap

aggregators.

Compliance / analytics#

Vendor

Notes

Chainalysis

Largest blockchain-analytics vendor; Reactor / KYT.

TRM Labs

Compliance + investigations.

Elliptic

Multi-chain.

CipherTrace (Master Card)

  • Mastercard.

Crystal Blockchain Coinfirm Merkle Science

Bitfury.

Arkham

consumer-front-end + bounty intelligence.

Breadcrumbs.app

open-front-end blockchain analytics.

Etherscan tagging

crowd-tagged labels.

GraphSense

OSS analytics framework (TU Wien + AIT).

SOL forensics

Helius, Solscan + Helius RPC.

Sanctioned addresses#

Source

Notes

OFAC SDN (crypto)

Treasury list of sanctioned addresses; updated as new designations are made; downloadable from Treasury.gov.

EU Sanctions

EU-designated crypto addresses.

UK OFSI

UK Treasury equivalent.

Israeli NBCTF

Israeli National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing crypto designations.

Chainalysis sanctio

n screening tools mirror these lists with additional derived attribution.

Operator notes#

  • Privacy chains, Monero (XMR) provides default privacy via ring signatures + stealth addresses + RingCT; Zcash (ZEC) optional shielded; Dash partial. Statistical attacks on Monero exist but degrade with mixin set size.

  • Bitcoin “privacy”, BTC is pseudonymous, not private; CoinJoin via Wasabi / Samourai approximates privacy at the cost of practical liquidity and ongoing takedown risk.

  • Tagged addresses, exchanges and major services have identifiable wallet patterns; Chainalysis / Etherscan / Arkham publish tags. Deposit/withdrawal flows often de-anonymise.

  • Lightning Network, BTC L2; channel-balance and routing observation enables some off-chain attribution.

  • Sanctioned-address screening is required for licensed exchanges in most jurisdictions; mixer / DEX use does not exempt the user from sanctions liability.

  • Tornado Cash OFAC sanctioning of smart-contract addresses (Aug 2022) is a unique legal precedent under active appeal / litigation.

  • Wallet hygiene, never reuse addresses; use HD wallets with derivation; segregate hot / cold; air-gap signing for high-value cold wallets.

References#

Contents