There's No Such Thing as Crypto Crime

7Cryptocurrency Wallets

If you are, or are planning to be, involved with crypto investigations, you will at some point need to recognize, analyze, and perhaps use crypto-wallets. No matter if you are a frontline officer, a digital forensics examiner, or a financial investigator, wallets are the mechanism whereby crypto is sent and received by users and so are a vital link in an investigative chain. The common assumption is that crypto investigators are just trained users of transaction link tools such as TRM Labs or Chainalysis, but a much broader scope of skills is needed in many crypto investigations and that includes knowledge of wallets.

During a search phase of an investigation, whether that be a premises search or a digital examination, it is vital to identify crypto usage. One of the primary notifiers is the identification of the use of software or hardware wallets. Digital forensics investigators need to know how to recognize wallet software running on mobile phones or computers, even if the application names are not familiar. An Internet search engine will be your friend. Recall the example from Chapter 2, “Understanding the Criminal Opportunities: Money Laundering,” of a phone being taken from a drug-dealing suspect and the only reason that around $300,000 in crypto was located was because the mobile phone investigator Googled an app name they didn’t recognize and identified a crypto-wallet.

Although we will not be covering digital forensics in this book, the ability ...