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Approach

Wash trading can be inferred through onchain movement of NFTs and funding patterns across different buyers and sellers.

We use various heuristics to flag potential wash trades, assign a score to each heuristic, and then compute a wash trading score based on the sum of these factors.

The output is then classified into different levels of wash trading ranging from very low to very high.

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Sample Query

Get a breakdown of NFT wash trading levels across all chains

select

    date(block_timestamp) as date,

    chain,

    wash_trading_level,

    sum(usd_amount) as usd_volume

from crosschain.nfts.trades_with_wash_trading_flags

where block_timestamp >= current_timestamp - interval '30 days'

group by all

Get a granular, transaction-level breakdown of wash trading details incl. the funding wallets of traders, and the pattern of wash trading detected. These details can also be used to compute custom wash trading metrics.

select

    chain,

    block_timestamp,

    transaction_hash,

    wash_trading_score,

    wash_trading_level,

    extra_fields:wash_trading_details as wash_trading_details,

    extra_fields:wash_trading_details:wash_trading_flags as wash_trading_flags,

    extra_fields:wash_trading_details:buyer_birth_funding_wallets as buyer_birth_funding_wallets,

    extra_fields:wash_trading_details:seller_birth_funding_wallets as seller_birth_funding_wallets

from crosschain.nfts.trades_with_wash_trading_flags

where block_timestamp >= current_timestamp - interval '1 days'

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Wash Trading Flags

Flag NameWeightDescriptionScope
buyer_is_seller4the buyer address is the same as the seller addressEVM Bitcoin Solana
instant_refund4the majority of the purchase price of an NFT is returned by the seller, in the same transaction, to the buyer, or to the wallet that funded the buyer in the same transaction. Commonly occurs with flash loans.EVM
traders_first_funded_each_other3one of the buyer’s first funders is the seller, and one of the seller’s first funders is the buyerEVM Bitcoin Solana
back_and_forth_token2the same NFT is traded between the same seller and buyer, within a specified time windowEVM Bitcoin Solana
back_and_forth_collection1NFTs from the same collection are sold back and forth between the same seller and buyer, within a specified time windowEVM Bitcoin Solana
buyer_funded_seller_recently1buyer funded seller within a specified time window from the point of a transactionEVM Bitcoin Solana
seller_funded_buyer_recently1seller funded buyer within a specified time window from the point of a transactionEVM Bitcoin Solana
same_nft_traded1an address buys or sells the same NFT within a specified time window, an excessive number of timesEVM (ERC-721 only) Bitcoin Solana
same_first_native_funder0.5buyer and seller share at least one overlapping first funder addressEVM Bitcoin Solana
same_most_frequent_native_funder0.25buyer and seller share at least one overlapping most frequent funder (based on funding transaction counts)EVM Solana
trade_transfer_trade_again0.25NFTs are traded, transferred and traded again between the same seller and buyer, within a specified time windowEVM (ERC-721 only) Bitcoin Solana

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Wash Trading Level

wash_trading_level - The Wash Trading Level is derived from the Wash Trading Score, and is classified into different levels as follows:

  • very low if wash_trading_score = 0

  • low if wash_trading_score <= 2

  • medium if wash_trading_score < 3

  • high if wash_trading_score <= 4

  • very high if wash_trading_score > 4