Glossary
Key terms and concepts used in ChainGraph and blockchain intelligence.
Blockchain Fundamentals
- Address
- A unique identifier (typically 42-character hex string starting with 0x) that represents an account on a blockchain. Can be an externally owned account (EOA) controlled by a private key, or a smart contract.
- Block
- A batch of transactions bundled together and added to the blockchain. Each block references the previous block, forming a chain. Contains a block number, timestamp, list of transactions, and gas usage data.
- Transaction (Tx)
- A signed instruction submitted to the blockchain. Can transfer ETH, call a smart contract function, or deploy a new contract. Each transaction has a unique hash, sender, recipient, value, and gas cost.
- Smart Contract
- Self-executing code deployed on the blockchain. Once deployed, the code is immutable and runs automatically when triggered by transactions. Common examples: token contracts (ERC-20), DEX pools, lending protocols.
- Gas
- The unit of computational effort required to execute operations on Ethereum. Users pay gas fees (in ETH) to compensate validators for processing transactions. Higher gas = more complex operation.
- Wei
- The smallest denomination of ETH. 1 ETH = 10^18 Wei. Used internally by the blockchain for precise value representation.
- ERC-20
- A standard interface for fungible tokens on Ethereum. Defines functions like transfer(), balanceOf(), and approve(). Most tokens (USDC, USDT, LINK) follow this standard.
- ERC-721
- A standard interface for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum. Each token has a unique ID and cannot be subdivided.
DeFi & Trading
- DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
- A protocol that enables peer-to-peer token trading without intermediaries. Examples: Uniswap, SushiSwap, Curve. Uses automated market makers (AMMs) and liquidity pools.
- Liquidity Pool
- A smart contract holding paired tokens (e.g., ETH/USDC) that enables automated trading. Liquidity providers deposit tokens and earn fees from trades.
- Swap
- An exchange of one token for another through a DEX. ChainGraph tracks swaps by decoding Swap events from DEX contracts.
- Sandwich Attack
- A form of MEV exploitation where an attacker places transactions before and after a victim's trade to profit from price impact. ChainGraph's test cases can detect these patterns.
- Flash Loan
- An uncollateralized loan that must be borrowed and repaid within a single transaction. Often used in arbitrage or exploits.
- PnL (Profit and Loss)
- The net financial result of an address's trading activity. ChainGraph calculates realized PnL by tracking token buys, sells, and current holdings.
Compliance & Security
- AML (Anti-Money Laundering)
- Regulations requiring financial institutions to monitor and report suspicious transactions. In crypto, this includes screening addresses against sanctions lists and monitoring for unusual patterns.
- KYC (Know Your Customer)
- The process of verifying the identity of users before providing financial services. Required by most centralized exchanges and increasingly by DeFi protocols.
- OFAC
- The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Maintains a list of sanctioned entities and addresses. ChainGraph checks addresses against the OFAC SDN list.
- SAR (Suspicious Activity Report)
- A report filed with financial regulators when suspicious activity is detected. ChainGraph's regulatory export feature generates SAR-structured data.
- Mixer / Tumbler
- A service that obscures the origin of cryptocurrency by mixing multiple users' funds together. Common examples: Tornado Cash, Wasabi Wallet. Often flagged in compliance checks.
- Entity Clustering
- The technique of grouping multiple addresses believed to belong to the same entity. Based on heuristics like common spending patterns, shared transaction history, or known associations.
- VASP
- Virtual Asset Service Provider. Any business that facilitates cryptocurrency transactions (exchanges, custodians, payment processors). Subject to AML/KYC regulations.
ChainGraph Concepts
- Investigation
- A workspace in ChainGraph for analyzing a set of related addresses and transactions. Contains a graph canvas with nodes (addresses) and edges (transactions), plus annotations and findings.
- Finding
- An issue detected by a test case or manual investigation. Has a severity level (critical, high, medium, low, info) and status (open, reviewing, resolved, dismissed).
- Test Case
- An automated compliance check that runs periodically against blockchain data. Examples: OFAC sanctions screening, large transfer detection, new contract monitoring. Produces findings when triggered.
- Monitor
- A recurring query that watches for specific on-chain events. Can be a rule-based check, Cypher query, or SQL query. Triggers alerts when conditions are met.
- Label
- A tag attached to a blockchain address identifying it (e.g., 'Binance Hot Wallet', 'Known Scammer', 'Uniswap V3 Router'). Can be community-contributed or tenant-private.
- Graph Canvas
- The interactive visualization in ChainGraph where addresses appear as nodes and transactions as edges. Supports expansion (loading connected addresses), clustering, and manual annotation.
- Node
- In the graph canvas, a visual representation of a blockchain address. Shows labels, tags, and connection count.
- Edge
- In the graph canvas, a visual representation of a transaction or relationship between two addresses. Shows value, direction, and metadata.
- Expansion
- Loading additional addresses connected to a node in the graph. For example, expanding an address shows all addresses it has sent ETH to or received ETH from.
- Featured Monitor
- A pre-built monitor maintained by ChainGraph that all users can subscribe to. Examples: OFAC sanctions updates, major exchange outflows, whale movements.
Technical
- Cypher
- A graph query language used by Memgraph (and Neo4j). ChainGraph's Power Mode allows writing Cypher queries to traverse the graph database directly. Example: MATCH (a:Address)-[:SENT]->(b:Address) RETURN a, b
- ClickHouse
- A column-oriented database used by ChainGraph to store raw blockchain data (transactions, transfers, logs, traces). Optimized for analytical queries over billions of rows.
- Memgraph
- An in-memory graph database used by ChainGraph for graph traversal and relationship queries. Stores address-to-address connections for fast path finding.
- Erigon
- An Ethereum execution client used by ChainGraph to sync and access blockchain data. Provides JSON-RPC access to historical blocks, transactions, and state.
- JSON-RPC
- The standard API protocol for communicating with Ethereum nodes. Used by ChainGraph's adapter to fetch block data from Erigon.
- Internal Transaction (Trace)
- A transaction initiated by a smart contract during execution (not directly by a user). Captured by tracing the EVM execution. Important for following fund flows through DeFi protocols.
- Event Log
- A record emitted by a smart contract during execution. Contains indexed topics and data. Used to track token transfers, swaps, approvals, and other contract events.