Overview of Coinpath
Coinpath is Bitquery's proprietary technology for tracing the movement of funds across blockchain networks. It abstracts away protocol-level differences (UTXO models, account balances, payment ledgers) and presents a single, unified money-flow graph that you can query with GraphQL.
Why Coinpath?
Raw blockchain data tells you that address A sent tokens to address B in a single transaction. Coinpath goes further:
- Multi-hop tracing — follow funds through 2, 5, or even 10+ intermediate wallets with a single query (
depthparameter). - Directional analysis — track inbound (where did the money come from?) and outbound (where did it go?) flows independently.
- Cross-chain coverage — the same GraphQL schema works for Bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC, Solana, Cardano, Ripple, Stellar, and 20+ other networks.
- Built-in attribution — Coinpath uses chain-specific algorithms (LRFS for EVM, proportional I/O for UTXO) to assign amounts to edges in the money-flow graph.
Use Cases
| Area | What Coinpath enables |
|---|---|
| AML / Compliance | Trace stolen funds, screen counterparties, generate evidence for regulators. |
| Hack investigation | Map where exploited funds moved after an attack (e.g. Upbit hack tracing). |
| Bundle & sybil detection | Identify wallets funded by the same source to detect coordinated pump schemes. |
| Forensic auditing | Build a complete funding history for any address across multiple hops. |
| DeFi risk scoring | Score addresses based on exposure to flagged wallets at any depth. |
How Coinpath Works Across Chain Types
Different blockchains represent value in fundamentally different ways. Coinpath adapts its algorithm for each model:
| Chain type | Algorithm | Details |
|---|---|---|
| EVM (Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, …) | Last-Received First-Spent (LRFS) | Associates incoming balance changes with outgoing ones in receipt order. Learn more → |
| UTXO (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, …) | Proportional input-output attribution | Splits transaction amounts across inputs and outputs proportionally. Learn more → |
| Ledger-based (Ripple, Stellar) | Multi-currency path extraction | Handles cross-currency payments and implicit transfers within a single transaction. Learn more → |
What You'll Learn in This Section
- How to Read a Coinpath Graph — understand nodes, edges, levels, and the difference between
transactionvstransactionsgrouping. - Fund Tracking by Chain Type
- EVM Networks — LRFS method, worked example, Ethereum query.
- UTXO Networks — proportional attribution, Bitcoin query.
- Ledger-Based Networks — multi-currency complexities.
Quick Start
Jump straight into example queries:
- Coinpath Money Flow API — full query cookbook
- Bitcoin Coinpath API examples
- Bitcoin Coinpath schema reference
- Ethereum Coinpath schema reference