Searching your Bitcoin wallet can put your IP address in Chainalysis’ hands

A warning posted on X on Aug. 5 urged Bitcoin users to avoid entering their own wallet addresses into public block explorers. It alleged that explorers log visitors' internet protocol addresses, sell the information to Chainalysis, and ultimately expose it to government agencies.

Public block explorers allow anyone to enter an address or transaction identifier to retrieve records from a blockchain. Like other websites, a hosted explorer receives connection details and the requested page.

When that request includes a public blockchain address, the operator may technically be able to associate an internet connection with interest in the address.

That creates a layer of off-chain metadata around a public on-chain record. Its privacy significance depends on whether the operator joins an IP address to a query, how long it retains the record, and who can receive it.

Published policies from WalletExplorer, mempool.space, Blockchair, Etherscan, Blockchain.com and OKLink describe materially different practices.

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