<p>Yes, in theory is possible to guess the ownership of an address to an Exchange.</p>

<p>Notice that I said <em>in theory</em> and I also mentioned that it's a <em>guess</em>. That's because per design each address is anonymous. However, since the blockchain is public, you can analyze the type and amount of transactions getting in and out a specific address and make assumptions based on patterns.</p>

<p>An exchange has generally a large amount of transactions. If they use a finite amount of addresses, eventually transactions will reuse existing addresses.</p>

<p>If you provide a tool or a way for people to publicly share/associate specific addresses with Exchanges, then eventually you will build an archive of matches. I believe this is what Etherscan does.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-15T20:11:31.740Z
*If they use a finite amount of addresses, eventually transactions will reuse existing addresses.* That's mathematically true, but the number of possible addresses is so large that reuse will not happen before the sun goes out.  In practice an exchange will never reuse a deposit address, and so the technique you describe will not be useful.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-22T02:40:05.827Z
@NateEldredge That's not quite true. Many exchanges will provide one address to a user, leading to eventual reuse if the user makes multiple deposits. It is possible to identify the random address->desposit address->exchange hot/cold wallet trail given enough data points.
Raghav Sood
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-16T11:08:18.543Z
2017-12-16T11:08:18.543Z
Simone Carletti
<p>Ethereum wallets can be associated with Exchanges (e.g. Etherscan.io will tell you if an address is a Poloniex one).</p>

<p>Is this possible for Bitcoin addresses?</p>

<exchanges><privacy>
Can a Bitcoin wallet be identified as belonging to an exchange?
Sam
# Can a Bitcoin wallet be identified as belonging to an exchange?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-16)

Ethereum wallets can be associated with Exchanges (e.g. Etherscan.io will tell you if an address is a Poloniex one).

Is this possible for Bitcoin addresses?

**Tags:** exchanges, privacy


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-12-16. Score: 1

Yes, in theory is possible to guess the ownership of an address to an Exchange.

Notice that I said *in theory* and I also mentioned that it's a *guess*. That's because per design each address is anonymous. However, since the blockchain is public, you can analyze the type and amount of transactions getting in and out a specific address and make assumptions based on patterns.

An exchange has generally a large amount of transactions. If they use a finite amount of addresses, eventually transactions will reuse existing addresses.

If you provide a tool or a way for people to publicly share/associate specific addresses with Exchanges, then eventually you will build an archive of matches. I believe this is what Etherscan does.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: *If they use a finite amount of addresses, eventually transactions will reuse existing addresses.* That's mathematically true, but the number of possible addresses is so large that reuse will not happen before the sun goes out.  In practice an exchange will never reuse a deposit address, and so the technique you describe will not be useful.  
> **username_3**: @NateEldredge That's not quite true. Many exchanges will provide one address to a user, leading to eventual reuse if the user makes multiple deposits. It is possible to identify the random address->desposit address->exchange hot/cold wallet trail given enough data points.  

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