From Ledger to P2P Network: De-anonymization on Bitcoin Using Cross-Layer Analysis

Che Zheng, Shen Meng*, Duan Junxian, Zhu Liehuang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Cryptocurrency has the characteristics of decentralization and anonymization, which have emerged and attracted widespread attention from various parties. However, cryptocurrency anonymization breeds illegal activities such as money laundering, gambling, and phishing. Thus, it is essential to deanonymity on Cryptocurrency transactions. This paper proposes a cross-layer analysis method for Bitcoin transactions deanonymization. Through acquiring large-scale original transaction information and combining the characteristics of the network layer and the transaction layer, we propose a propagation pattern extraction model and associated address clustering model. We achieve the matching of the suspected transaction with the originator’s IP address for high precision and low overhead. Through experimental analysis in a real Bitcoin system, the cross-layer method can effectively match the original transaction with the target node, which reaches an accuracy of 81.3% and is 30% higher than the state-of-the-art method. By controlling several factors, such as different times and nodes, the characteristics of the extracted transaction propagation pattern can be proved reasonable and reliable. The practicality and effectiveness of the cross-layer analysis are higher than that of a single-level scheme.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAdvanced Parallel Processing Technologies - 15th International Symposium, APPT 2023, Proceedings
EditorsChao Li, Fan Wu, Zhenhua Li, Li Shen, Xiaoli Gong
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages390-416
Number of pages27
ISBN (Print)9789819978717
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event15th International Symposium on Advanced Parallel Processing Technologies, APPT 2023 - Nanchang, China
Duration: 4 Aug 20236 Aug 2023

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume14103 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference15th International Symposium on Advanced Parallel Processing Technologies, APPT 2023
Country/TerritoryChina
CityNanchang
Period4/08/236/08/23

Keywords

  • Address clustering
  • Bitcoin transactions
  • Cross-layer analysis
  • Deanonymization
  • Propagation path

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