Crypto and tracing terms, in plain language.
The words you'll meet in our checks, reports and guides, explained without jargon.
- Address
- A string of letters and numbers that can receive crypto, similar to an account number. Addresses don't show names on their own.
- Attribution
- Linking an address to a real-world service or entity, such as an exchange, with a stated source and confidence.
- Blockchain
- A public ledger that permanently records every transaction on a network such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
- Bridge
- A service that moves value from one blockchain to another. Bridges can make tracing slower but rarely end it.
- Evidence report
- A written, sourced record of a trace, prepared for police, prosecutors, lawyers or an exchange's compliance team.
- Exchange
- A company where crypto is bought, sold and held. Regulated exchanges know their customers and can freeze funds when police or a court asks.
- Fraud intelligence
- Chainsentra's database of wallets, platforms and patterns flagged as fraudulent, built from the cases we work.
- Fraud match
- A result showing that a wallet or website matches something in our fraud intelligence.
- Freeze request
- A request from police or a court asking an exchange to stop funds from being moved while a case is investigated.
- Hop
- One transfer in a chain of transfers. A trace follows funds hop by hop.
- Mixer
- A service that pools funds from many users to break the link between deposits and withdrawals.
- Private key
- The secret that controls funds at an address. Anyone with it can move the funds. Never share it.
- Seed phrase
- A list of words that can recreate all the keys in a wallet. Never share it with anyone, including Chainsentra.
- Token approval
- Permission you give a smart contract to move a token from your wallet. Malicious approvals can drain a wallet.
- Trace
- Following funds from one address to the next to find where they ended up.
- Transaction hash
- The unique ID of a single transaction. It's the most useful detail to give an investigator.
- Unhosted wallet
- A wallet controlled directly by its owner rather than held at an exchange.
- Wallet
- Software or hardware that holds the keys to one or more addresses.