In the case of a criminal investigation, how does one knows which exchange or wallet service a bitcoin address belongs to?

There is no guaranteed way to check.

In most investigations, it is a combination of tracing the money to known addresses (most exchanges and companies consolidate funds into a handful of hot and cold wallets), and exchanges volunteering/sharing information when served with warrants.

Raghav Sood

Posted 2018-07-28T07:58:31.183

Reputation: 10 897

So for my example, how to find 13qCK9VzJCicXeh47W59rh7A6tfun92Sr5 belongs to blockchain.com? – user2284570 – 2018-07-29T08:42:07.320

You probably cannot – Raghav Sood – 2018-07-29T08:42:29.910

but if someone physically force me to send Bitcoins to such address without showing his/her phone. The police will know that the address belongs to blockchain.com before arresting the guy (of course) but how? – user2284570 – 2018-07-29T13:44:19.473

Again, it is unlikely that you can prove that. Blockchain.com is an explorer, you can pull up any address on that site and show someone a QR Code for it. It is also not an exchange, so no consolidation takes place. The only way to prove it is a blockchain.com address would be to force someone to hand over their account details, and login and check. – Raghav Sood – 2018-07-29T21:42:03.750

In the case of a criminal investigation, how does one knows which exchange or wallet service a bitcoin address belongs to?

Answers