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Please note that while the information presented on this page is intended for human consumption and is accurate to the best of our knowledge, the official source of truth for our project is the corresponding codified files hosted on GitHub. We strive to maintain up-to-date and accurate information on this page, but please refer to the GitHub repository for the most current and reliable information.

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Github: https://github.com/openchainmeta/chainmetareader/blob/main/chainmeta_reader/config/categories.json

Introduction

The primary objective of developing a common taxonomy for crypto address annotation is to enable the seamless sharing of data across different organizations and companies. By having a shared taxonomy, we can avoid the ever-increasing complexity of managing mapping relationships between multiple taxonomies used by different organizations.

However, building a common taxonomy does not mean creating a superset of all distinctive taxonomies from each participating organization. To avoid overwhelming users with an extensive list of categories and ensure that each category has sufficient data points, we need to design a balanced taxonomy that is comprehensive, representative of the main use-cases, and appropriate in size.

To achieve this, we will build a community that can manage the addition, modification, and deletion of categories over time to ensure that the taxonomy remains relevant and up-to-date. This approach will allow the taxonomy to evolve with the changing landscape of the crypto industry and remain useful for all stakeholders involved in crypto address annotation.

In this page, we will introduce our design principles, the proposed common taxonomy system and guidelines for using the taxonomy.

Design Principles

The Common Taxonomy is designed to be a comprehensive and flexible system for categorizing different types of cryptocurrency addresses. The following principles guided the design of the taxonomy:

• be adaptable and community-driven: This design principle emphasizes the importance of creating a flexible taxonomy that can evolve over time and is driven by the community. The goal is to ensure that the taxonomy is both comprehensive and efficient, striking a balance between being comprehensive and ease to use. Therefore, the community will decide to add or delete categories as new use cases arise in the future via a standard procedure.
• reasonable mutual exclusivity: This design principle highlights the fact that an address can have multiple categories, and each category can describe different aspects. It is important to ensure that the categories are reasonably mutually exclusive to avoid confusion or redundancy. For example, an address can be categorized as a cold storage wallet and also as a multisig address, as these categories describe different aspects of the address.
• respect privacy and anonymity: This design principle emphasizes the importance of respecting privacy and anonymity in the Web3 and blockchain ecosystem. The taxonomy will not include any categories that describe personal characteristics or any information that could jeopardize anyone's privacy rights. For example, the taxonomy will not include categories related to an individual's identity or personal information.

Collections

The taxonomy is structured into five collections, each containing a set of categories that relate to a specific aspect of blockchain-related entities. These collections are:

1. ~~Address Attributes: This collection includes categories related to the attributes or characteristics of a cryptocurrency address. These attributes can describe the security, functionality, or other characteristics of an address, and are often determined by how the address is used or controlled.~~
2. ~~Business: This collection includes categories related to businesses that operate within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The categories in this collection are based on the type of business or service provided by the entity controlling the address, such as exchanges, merchants, or lenders.~~
3. ~~Business Practice: This collection includes categories related to the business practices or policies of entities operating within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The categories in this collection describe how a business operates or interacts with customers, and can include things like KYC/AML policies, customer support practices, or user privacy protections.~~
4. ~~Risky Activities or Status: This collection includes categories related to cryptocurrency addresses that are associated with risky activities or have a risky status. The categories in this collection can describe addresses associated with scams, fraud, illegal activities, or other high-risk behaviors.~~
5. ~~Smart Contract: This collection includes categories related to smart contracts. The categories in this collection can describe the purpose or functionality of a smart contract, or the status of a smart contract on the blockchain.~~