Criminals thought crypto was untraceable. This student proved them wrong

PLUS: More of WIRED's best longreads from this week.

View in browser  |  Your newsletter preferences  By John Gravois | 01.21.24 How a 27-Year-Old Codebreaker Busted the Myth of Bitcoin's Anonymity Over the past couple of years, WIRED has published two excerpts of Andy Greenberg's scintillating book Tracers in the Dark, both of which were about colossal takedown operations that destroyed crypto-fueled criminal empires. But when we went looking for another chunk that we could publish to mark the book's release in paperback this week, we settled on a smaller story. This time, instead of following crypto-tracing detectives from Fresno to South Korea to Thailand, most of the action takes place inside the head of one graduate student in San Diego—the young codebreaker named Sarah Meiklejohn who discovered some of the techniques that would lay the groundwork for those huge operations. It's an origin story that's all the more powerful for how small-scale it is: From a quiet university cubicle, a decade-long crackdown became possible. READ THE FULL STORY More from Tracers in the Dark How Bitcoin Tracers Took Down the Web's Biggest Child Abuse Site BY ANDY GREENBERG | 51-MINUTE READ Welcome to Video's customers thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn't have been more wrong. The Hunt for the Dark Web's Biggest Kingpin, Part 1: The Shadow BY ANDY GREENBERG | 14-MINUTE READ AlphaBay was the largest online drug bazaar in history, run by a technological mastermind who seemed untouchable—until his tech was turned against him. Get all six installments of this series delivered to your inbox, with exclusive commentary from Andy Greenberg. SIGN UP NOW ADVERTISEMENT You May Also Like... The Last-Ditch Effort to Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline BY KATIE MYERS | 12-MINUTE READ The gas pipeline stretching across Virginia and West Virginia is over budget and behind schedule, with a lot of hard work left to do. Opponents hope that makes fossil fuel companies think twice about building the next one. Big Tech Won't Let You Leave. Here's a Way Out BY CORY DOCTOROW | 3-MINUTE READ The year 2023 saw the "enshittification" of platforms from Facebook to Google Search. A new exit strategy means platforms will have to play nicely with your data, even if you leave for a rival. GET WIRED Our Winter Sale is Officially live! Subscribe to WIRED for only $29.99 $5. That includes subscriber-only content like Steven Levy's Plaintext column, plus FREE WIRED stickers as a special bonus! ADVERTISEMENT Have questions or comments? Reply to this email.   This email was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our email address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions