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Token

An asset created and managed by a smart contract on an existing blockchain, as distinct from the network’s native coin (e.g., ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, TRC-20 tokens on Tron, SPL tokens on Solana). Balances are kept in the contract’s state, and transfers are normally signalled by standardised event logs.

Each asset, whether a native coin or a token, must be traced independently as a separate resource; a token is identified by its contract address, not by its name or ticker. Token contracts may also include custom rules allowing the issuer or an administrator to move, mint, burn or freeze balances; in such cases a recorded movement does not necessarily reflect an action by the holder. Non-standard contracts may not emit the usual events.

Essays

  • The Transfer That Never Happened (Delta-Neutral Siphoning)

    “The governance tokens The siphon has running costs: fees, funding and spread on both legs, paid on every trade.”

    · Methods · 5 min read

  • The Strings Stay Public (Why Tracing Is Not Enough)

    “From known tokens and contracts it climbs to their deployers, the deployers' deployers, and whoever paid their first gas, reading proxy admin slots, role grants and signer lists on the way.”

    · Methods · 5 min read

  • Two Sweeps Pointed at the Same Address

    “Cheap sweepers take the native ETH and leave the tokens, which is why victims sometimes find their ERC-20 balances untouched inside an account that empties itself every time it is funded.”

    · Investigations · 7 min read

  • The Desk Opens on Monday

    “A balance can read as full after the tokens behind it have been burned, on platforms that follow transfers without reading the contract's own state.”

    · Methods · 7 min read

  • Achilles Catches the Tortoise Where It Has to Stop

    “If the value sits inside an issuer-controlled token whose contract allows blacklisting, the tortoise can be stopped where it stands.”

    · Methods · 5 min read

  • A Scam Made to Measure

    “He was lured by a fake airdrop, a distribution of governance tokens to active users in an ecosystem, and signed a single drainer transaction: a malicious request that, once authorized, empties the wallet.”

    · Victims · 5 min read

  • What a USDT Recovery Actually Looks Like

    “Common bridged versions of USDT (tokens that represent USDT on blockchains other than the native Tether-issued ones) cannot be frozen by Tether because they are not issued by Tether.”

    · Investigations · 5 min read

  • Guess Who? (On-chain)

    “One token, out of the whole set.”

    · Investigations · 3 min read

  • Wallet Balances

    “My first thought was that it would be quick: write a query for every wallet that held that exact combination of tokens, match the balances down to the last decimal, and there is your wallet.”

    · Methods · 3 min read

  • A Special Demixing Case

    “A note before we start: the case as a whole was handled by the entire Token Recovery team, and this demixing work in particular was done together with Benjamin Brooks.”

    · Investigations · 5 min read

  • Inside Inferno Drainer

    “Other tokens get auto-split the same way, 80/20, in the same instant (with or without throwaway "forwarders" depending on the case).”

    · Investigations · 3 min read