SoK: A Deep Dive Into Anti-money Laundering Techniques for Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

SoK: A Deep Dive Into Anti-money Laundering Techniques for Blockchain Cryptocurrencies

연구 분야: Strategies

학회: Australasian Conference on Information Security and Privacy

With the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and the rapid expansion of blockchain-based financial ecosystems, illicit financial activities have also grown significantly. Cryptocurrency money laundering (Crypto ML) has become a major concern, as malicious actors exploit the pseudonymity and decentralized nature of blockchain transactions to conceal illicit funds. The increasing sophistication of laundering strategies, coupled with the vast scale of transaction networks and the emergence of new financial tools such as decentralized finance (DeFi), pose significant challenges to traditional anti-money laundering (AML) techniques. Addressing these challenges requires a systematic understanding of Crypto ML and the development of novel Crypto AML approaches. In this paper, we present a Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) on Crypto AML to establish a structured understanding of the field. First, we outline the three stages of Crypto ML and analyze its fundamental differences from traditional money laundering. Second, we examine transaction behavior characteristics associated with each stage of Crypto ML, identifying key patterns that differentiate illicit activities from legitimate transactions. Third, we systematically categorize existing Crypto AML techniques into heuristic rule-based, traditional machine learning-based, and graph-based methods, providing a comparative analysis of their strengths and limitations. Fourth, to gain a deeper understanding of the research landscape, we collect and analyze seven publicly available Crypto ML datasets (The datasets covered in this SoK are available at https://github.com/CryptoAML/awesome-crypto-aml), assessing their coverage, characteristics, and limitations. Finally, we discuss the key challenges in Crypto AML research and outline promising future directions to advance the field.