<p>There is no guaranteed way to check.</p>

<p>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.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-29T08:42:07.320Z
So for my example, how to find `13qCK9VzJCicXeh47W59rh7A6tfun92Sr5` belongs to blockchain.com?
user2284570
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-29T08:42:29.910Z
You probably cannot
Raghav Sood
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-29T13:44:19.473Z
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
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-29T21:42:03.750Z
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
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-28T08:11:56.593Z
2018-07-28T08:11:56.593Z
Raghav Sood
<p>How it was found that the Dao hackers used shapeshift?</p>

<p>In a more practical exemple, how to find that <code>13qCK9VzJCicXeh47W59rh7A6tfun92Sr5</code> belongs to <a href="https://www.blockchain.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.blockchain.com</a> using only block explorer data?</p>

<blockexplorer><theft>
In the case of a criminal investigation, how does one knows which exchange or wallet service a bitcoin address belongs to?
user2284570
# In the case of a criminal investigation, how does one knows which exchange or wallet service a bitcoin address belongs to?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-28)

How it was found that the Dao hackers used shapeshift?

In a more practical exemple, how to find that `13qCK9VzJCicXeh47W59rh7A6tfun92Sr5` belongs to <https://www.blockchain.com> using only block explorer data?

**Tags:** blockexplorer, theft


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-28. Score: 1

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.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: So for my example, how to find `13qCK9VzJCicXeh47W59rh7A6tfun92Sr5` belongs to blockchain.com?  
> **username_1**: You probably cannot  
> **username_0**: 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?  
> **username_1**: 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.  

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