Tracing stolen or scammed crypto
I follow your funds from the first transaction to the exchange where the court can request the account holder's identity and a freeze, stating the degree of certainty at each hop.
Member of AEPEJU (no. 1556). Barcelona and across Spain.
Indicative fee: from €1,200. See prices
Can crypto be traced?
Yes. On Bitcoin and Ethereum every transaction is recorded permanently and is public. What does not appear is the holder's name: addresses are pseudonymous.
Tracing means following the money from address to address until it reaches a point where identity data exist. That point is almost always an exchange that verifies its customers' identity.
From the hash to the exit exchange
The tracing is rebuilt hop by hop, and at each hop I state what is a recorded fact and what is an inference.
- Direct transactions between addresses: a recorded fact anyone can check.
- Grouping addresses of the same user by spending patterns: an inference, with its degree of certainty.
- Swaps on decentralised exchanges: I follow the token that comes out of the swap.
- Bridges between Ethereum and its L2s (Arbitrum, Optimism and Base): I link the deposit on one network with the exit on the other.
- Mixers and privacy protocols: certainty drops and I say so; sometimes the trail can be followed by amounts and timing.
- USDT and other tokens: traced the same way, and the issuers of some stablecoins can freeze addresses at the request of the authorities.
How the tracing is used in the complaint and in court
It lets your lawyer ask the court to require the exchange to disclose the account holder's identity and freeze the funds. Without knowing where the money is, the judge has nobody to address.
In civil proceedings, the Spanish Civil Procedure Act (LEC) provides for a preventive attachment as an interim measure (article 727) and, at enforcement, allows the court to address whoever holds information on the debtor's assets (article 590). In criminal proceedings, the measures are ordered by the investigating court. What to ask for is your lawyer's decision; the report tells them where and how much.
What I need to start
Little information is enough to start; the more there is, the faster and more precise the work.
- The transaction hashes or the history of your wallet or exchange account.
- The addresses you sent the funds to.
- Approximate dates and amounts.
- If it is a scam, the conversations and the website or app used.
Timescales and what I cannot promise
For standard cases the report is ready in about seven days. Tracing with many hops or several chains can take longer, and I state it in the quote before starting.
Speed matters: funds still at an exchange can be frozen; those that have left cannot always be. And tracing is not recovering: the report is the technical basis to request it, not a guarantee of the outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this kind of report.
Can you find out who owns a wallet?
Not directly. The blockchain shows addresses, not names; the identity comes from the exchange when the court requires it, and the report sets out the public indications with their degree of certainty.
Can USDT be traced?
Yes. USDT is a token running on networks such as Ethereum, and its movements are traced like those of any other token on that network.
What if the funds went through a mixer?
The certainty of the tracing drops, and I say so. Sometimes the trail can be followed by amounts and timing; otherwise, the report records that this is where it is lost.
Is the report useful if the scammer is in another country?
Yes. What matters is where the funds end up: if they reach an exchange, the court can request information from it, although outside the European Union the process is usually slower.
How long does tracing take?
About seven days for standard cases. If there are many hops or several chains, I state it in the quote before starting.
Can I trace it myself with a block explorer?
You can see your transactions, which is useful to prepare the case. An expert report adds method, address clustering, a degree of certainty and the signature of an expert who defends it in court.
Related articles
To understand this kind of case better.
- El exploit de KelpDAO explicado para abogadosQué pasó, cómo se siguieron los fondos hasta Bitcoin y qué enseña para casos reales.
/blog/kelpdao-exploit-explicado - Falsas empresas de recuperación de criptomonedasLas señales de la segunda estafa y lo que de verdad puede hacer un perito.
/blog/empresas-recuperacion-criptomonedas - Drainers: cómo se demuestra qué firmasteApprove, permit y setApprovalForAll: qué rastro deja cada firma y cómo se prueba.
/blog/drainers-firmas-maliciosas
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