What if stolen Bitcoins can be recovered?

Original source: Tokenview

Original title: How to track the whereabouts of funds through the address flow diagram?

Blockchain asset transfer is different from fiat currency. Under normal circumstances, if a large amount of funds in a user's bank card is stolen, it is very likely that the lost property can be recovered by checking the flow of funds through the bank if the matter is handled in a timely manner. However, blockchain transfer is different because there is no centralized "bank". Users will find that if their BTC assets are stolen, they will not even be able to find "customer service". Fortunately, it is precisely because of the openness and transparency of blockchain, traceability of transactions, and irreversibility that we are very likely to help users recover their defrauded assets through the circulation of assets on the chain.
Generally, during blockchain transactions, there are two main situations in which users suffer losses due to transfers.
Scenario 1: The user accidentally inputs the wrong address hash of the payee, such as mixing up the transfer address, or typing a wrong number or letter. In this case, once the transaction is broadcasted, unless the payee is contacted and informed of the situation and asked to transfer the coins back to you, or the payee is curious about why the pie fell from the sky and dares not enjoy it, and transfers the coins back to the transfer address. Obviously, these two situations are almost impossible to happen, that is, in this case, the loss caused by the user's own mistakes is almost impossible to recover.
Scenario 2 Another situation is that the user's private key is stolen. It may be that the hacker has hacked your mobile phone/computer password and obtained your private key, or the wallet password is cracked, or the exchange you use is hacked, resulting in the loss of your assets. If the exchange is hacked, it depends on how the exchange handles it. The transaction may be rolled back, but this will seriously violate the spirit of the blockchain and generally will not happen, or the exchange itself will bear the user's losses. But if the huge assets in your private wallet are stolen, it is almost impossible to recover them by personal strength.
So in this case, Tokenview, the on-chain data provider, has a way to assist users in recovering stolen assets. How is it implemented specifically?
It is mainly through continuous tracking of on-chain transaction data, combined with a series of complex calculations and screening such as address labeling, that individuals are finally determined. Recently, the Tokenview official website launched the address flow (CoinFlow) function. Address flow can track the submitted stolen addresses or hacker addresses, and capture the flow of funds in and out of major mainstream exchanges in any period of time, thereby increasing the possibility of recovering stolen assets. In this way, users can try to see the flow of stolen assets themselves in the event of losses, and then decide on the next step.
At present, the address transfer tracking function of BTC, ETH, USDT (USDT-omni and USDT-erc20) is temporarily launched, and the tracking threshold and tracking time period can be freely set according to the existing clues to reduce the tracking scope. Searching for a certain address will display the transaction end point as the exchange by default. Through screening, you can also track transactions flowing through the exchange separately. Let's take a brief look at how to use it.

1. Select the currency to track

The default tracking currency is BTC. If the tracking currency is not selected correctly, the address may be reported incorrectly. For example, if the address of ETH is entered in the default currency BTC, an error will be reported.

2. Enter the tracking address

3. Set the tracking threshold

You can set an appropriate threshold based on the amount of your assets and omit some small transfers.

4. Select the tracking period

It should be noted here that if you check the box in front of "Exchange", only the transaction clues flowing into the exchange will be displayed. After checking, you need to click the search again. We search for a random address.

The above picture shows a screenshot of some transactions in the address flow. Take the circled one as an example. The 41 here refers to the transfer of 41 BTC from the address starting with 38 to Huobi. It should be noted that this does not mean that 41 were transferred at one time. The 41 here refers to the total transfer amount, which may be multiple transactions. Click to see the transfer details on the right. As shown in the figure, there are two operations here, 20 and 21. You can click to view the transaction details. In addition, Tokenview's address transfer function currently only displays 4-level transfer relationships.
Through the above introduction, everyone should have a certain understanding of how to use the address transfer function. Now you can go to https://tokenview.com/cn/flow and enter an address to try. Of course, although address transfer increases the possibility of recovering stolen assets, it does not mean that 100% of the stolen funds can be recovered.