Updated September 11, 10:08 AM UTC: This article has been updated to include a quote from the Chainaracy training video.
A leaked Chainaloss video suggests that Monero (XMR) transactions may be traceable despite the privacy-preserving nature of blockchain.
A leaked video outlining the company's tracking methods related to the coin has since been deleted.
Monero brands itself as a “secure, private, untraceable cryptocurrency that keeps your money private,” raising concerns that Chainalysis could potentially track XMR transactions.
When Cointelegraph contacted the on-chain intelligence company about the breach, a Chainalysis spokesperson said, “We have no comment to share at this time.”
Monero tracking video leaked. Source: Cointelegraph
A copy of the leaked video was shared with Cointelegraph by an anonymous source.
Monero tracking video leaked. Source: Cointelegraph
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Can Chainaosis track Monero IPs through its own “malicious nodes”?
Images from the leaked video have resurfaced on the social media platform Reddit, posted by the pseudonymous user u/__lt__.
Users claim that the leaked video shows how Chainaosis is able to track transactions through its own “malicious” Monero nodes through 2021. Users wrote that the company was probably doing something like this:
1. Run a number of xmr nodes from different geographic locations and ISPs to capture transaction IP addresses and timestamps. 2. Run a transaction feed (IP and all).
Users claimed that this method, combined with fake “decoy” inputs, could “reduce anonymity” regarding Monero transactions.
Screenshot of leaked Monero tracking video. Source: Cointelegraph
Cointelegraph reached out to Monero for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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Chainarise is just “doing its job” and could make Monero even more secure
While Monero's transaction traceability claims may seem alarming at first, there is no reason for investors to panic about the privacy-preserving nature of blockchain.
This is because Monero transactions remain untraceable in most parts of the world, with the exception of Chainalies, one of the leading on-chain intelligence companies in the crypto space with vast blockchain expertise.
The leak led to a huge backlash from the community against Chainalysis' Monero node, but u/_It_ pointed out that the on-chain intelligence company was simply doing its job:
“They're just doing their job of tracking transactions on the blockchain. No one is saying they can't run nodes that collect transactions and IP information. […] I think [Chainalysis] It's like a white-hat hacker making Monero more secure. ”
Chainalies also points out in the training video that Monero transactions remain untraceable in the broader crypto space.
“First, this is not good. It means that two or more transaction outputs cannot be linked to the same ID. It is also untraceable, which means that the origin of a transaction cannot be uniquely identified. And it's confidential, meaning you don't even know how much money is transferred in the transaction.
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