Crypto investigations matured fast in 2024–2025. Investigators now combine open blockchain data, purpose-built analytics, and regulator advisories to produce reports that withstand legal and editorial scrutiny. Mid-2025 numbers show why better reporting matters: more than $2.17 billion was stolen from crypto services in H1 2025 alone—already above all of 2024—driven in part by a record exchange breach. Meanwhile, industry-law-enforcement task forces report hundreds of millions in frozen assets, underscoring the need for reproducible, action-ready reports.
The data layer: where to gather credible, verifiable evidence
Open blockchain datasets you can query directly
- Google’s Blockchain Analytics datasets on BigQuery provide maintained, queryable tables for major chains (Ethereum, Bitcoin, Polygon, Tron, and more). Pages list supported datasets and schemas and note recent updates.
- Google’s public datasets and the Ethereum ETL project show how to run SQL over historical and streaming chain data, enabling reproducible analyses.
Open-source analytics to keep your work transparent
- GraphSense is an open-source platform with address clustering, tag packs, APIs, and a dashboard—designed for full data sovereignty and custom analytics jobs. It’s documented, research-backed, and actively maintained.
- BlockSci offers a research-grade toolkit (USENIX paper) for multi-chain analysis and methods you can cite in methodology sections.
Dashboards for stakeholders
- Dune lets you publish SQL-backed dashboards (time series, counters, tables) and share every query for peer review and newsroom or compliance sign-off.
Industry intelligence for context and benchmarking
- Chainalysis’ 2025 mid-year update and annual reports provide trend baselines (thefts, scams, DPRK activity), useful for framing materiality and risk in your report.
- TRM Labs’ 2025 Crypto Crime Report summarizes illicit finance patterns (ransomware highs, terrorist financing, DPRK hacks ~USD 800M in 2024), helping you compare observed activity with macro trends.
The policy & sanctions layer: sources to interpret activity correctly
Travel Rule and payments transparency
- FATF’s 2025 update to Recommendation 16 strengthens payment transparency (commonly called the Travel Rule in crypto), affecting cross-border transfer data that compliance teams should expect and reference.
SAR writing and red-flag updates
- FinCEN’s SAR Advisory Key Terms page is updated through August 2025—use its exact key phrases to standardize filings and improve downstream analytics.
- FinCEN’s August 2025 Notice on CVC kiosks requests a specific SAR keyword (“FIN-2025-CVCKIOSK”) and details filing expectations—mirror this language in your reports.
Sanctions references
- OFAC’s virtual currency FAQs explain how sanctions apply to digital assets and why programs need address and geolocation screening. Recent Treasury press releases also document designated exchanges and networks—use these for narrative timelines and risk context.
Law-enforcement & intergovernmental assessments
- INTERPOL and Europol publications highlight automation, cross-border coordination, and crypto tracing capabilities—useful for describing why certain methods (automation, graph analysis) are necessary in 2025.
A repeatable workflow for gathering and validating evidence
Step 1: Define the question and scoping variables
Specify chain(s), token(s), time window, entities, and hypotheses. Anchor with current macro stats so stakeholders see why the case matters.
Step 2: Collect on-chain facts with reproducible queries
Run SQL in BigQuery or Dune; commit queries and outputs to source control; store TX hashes, block heights, and snapshots. Append a data dictionary and schema links so another analyst can re-run it.
Step 3: Enrich with open-source analytics
Use GraphSense or BlockSci to cluster addresses, trace flows, and tag entities. Log assumptions (e.g., clustering heuristics) and cite tool docs or papers to defend methods.
Step 4: Overlay policy context
Check whether counterparties or patterns intersect with Travel Rule expectations or sanctions advisories; cite the exact FATF/FinCEN/OFAC text you relied on.
Step 5: Triangulate with industry intelligence
Compare volumes, attack types, or laundering routes with Chainalysis/TRM trendlines to avoid over- or under-stating significance.
How to write stronger crypto activity reports (templates you can adapt)
Compliance SAR narrative template
- Opening line: who/what/when/where; specify wallet(s), TX hash(es), chain(s), and fiat on/off-ramps involved.
- Red flags: enumerate with regulator language; include requested SAR key term(s) verbatim when applicable.
- Flow summary: short bullet timeline with amounts, addresses, and services.
- Attachments: CSV or links to queries/dashboards; screenshots with timestamps.
- Closing: requested institution actions and contact. Use the exact FinCEN key term(s) for the case type.
Investigative journalism memo structure
- Claim, method, and limitations upfront.
- Evidence section with query links and explorer screenshots; all figures footnoted to data sources.
- Context section referencing current theft/fraud statistics and any relevant law-enforcement freezes to show materiality.
Board/investor briefing
- One-page executive summary, exposure estimate, likely scenarios, and “unknowns.”
- Risk controls mapped to sanctions and Travel Rule controls; note whether counterparties appear on Treasury press releases or OFAC resources.
New investigative angles worth adopting in 2025
Cross-taskforce event tracking
Industry–LE partnerships such as T3 FCU and multi-agency freezes are increasingly public. Track these announcements and tag related addresses in your internal datasets to speed future analysis.
Streaming and near-real-time reporting
Leverage streaming-updated public datasets and dashboards to issue rapid situational reports during incidents, then publish a consolidated post-mortem with final block numbers.
Automation plus human review
Intergovernmental guidance stresses that manual tracing alone no longer scales. Build automated triage (e.g., address watchlists, anomaly detectors) with human verification for evidentiary quality.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Confusing custody models or chain semantics. Always specify chain, token standard, and custody status.
- No reproducibility. Share queries, schemas, and exact dataset versions.
- Ignoring SAR keyword guidance. Use FinCEN’s current key-term instructions; it materially improves downstream analysis.
- Weak sanctions context. Cross-check OFAC FAQs and recent Treasury press releases before making claims about permissibility.
Quick checklist (printable)
- Define scope and hypotheses; cite current trend stats.
- Query open datasets (BigQuery/Dune); version control your SQL and outputs.
- Run open-source clustering/flow analysis (GraphSense/BlockSci) and log assumptions.
- Map findings to FATF/FinCEN/OFAC guidance; include requested SAR key terms.
- Add industry context (Chainalysis/TRM) and any recent freezes or takedowns.
- Package with reproducible dashboards; attach CSVs and screenshots with timestamps.
FAQs
What’s the single most valuable upgrade to crypto reporting in 2025?
Use regulator keyword guidance in SARs and mirror it in internal reports. It aligns your work with national analytics and speeds triage.
Where can I get trustworthy cross-chain data without buying a tool?
Start with Google’s supported blockchain datasets on BigQuery and publish Dune dashboards for transparency. Combine with open-source GraphSense or BlockSci when you need clustering under your control.
How should I reference sanctions issues in a report?
Point to OFAC’s virtual currency FAQs and the latest Treasury press releases designating exchanges or networks; cite them directly in the narrative.
