Identifying the Owner of a Crypto Wallet Address in Law Enforcement Practice

The author analyzes the law enforcement experience (operational and investigative) in the disclosure and investigation of crimes related to the use of cryptocurrency. The article highlights the difficulties associated with establishing the owner of the crypto wallet address in the practical activities of operatives and investigators. The article describes the operational and investigative experience in establishing the owner of the crypto wallet address by sending a request to the crypto exchange. The article proposes to send a request to the crypto exchange for these purposes within the framework of the relevant operational search event “Making inquiries” and the investigative action “Investigative experiment”. The author suggests that the reader familiarize himself with the standard plan for carrying out the specified operational search event. The same plan has been developed for the production of the investigative action “Investigative experiment”. The author concluded that the formation of evidence at the preliminary investigation takes place through the production of an investigative action “Investigative experiment”, and to present the results of operational investigative activities, operatives conduct the above-mentioned operational investigative event. In conclusion, the author proposes a descriptive part of the protocol of the investigative experiment to facilitate the introduction of new methods and techniques in proving criminal cases.