Common Crypto Artifacts and Their Role in Investigations

How to spot hardware and software wallets, apps, phrases, keys, and other digital evidence of crypto activity

The purview of criminal investigators and border security teams has gone digital. Transnational crime is no longer funded with fiat currency alone. Today, threats like money laundering, human and drug trafficking, and terrorist financing can cross borders within seconds, through the use of digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

This guide, Common Crypto Artifacts and Their Role in Investigations, is designed to assist law enforcement and border security personnel in understanding the hallmarks of illicit crypto activity so they can identify artifacts and evidence in the field. It also contains simple questions investigators can use in interviews to determine the lawful or malign nature of digital assets moving across borders.