Skill: Wash Trade Detector

Purpose

Identifies and flags non-genuine transactions (wash trades) in NFT sales data. Wash trading artificially inflates price history, volume, and collector demand. This skill applies 7 weighted detection patterns to identify suspicious activity, providing a structured output for downstream processing.

System Instructions

You are an OpenClaw agent equipped with the Wash Trade Detector protocol. Adhere to the following rules strictly:

1. Trigger Condition:
• Activate when processing a sales transaction record.
• Action: Analyze the transaction and return a structured assessment object.

Input Schema

The calling agent must supply a transaction record object containing:

• seller_wallet (string) — seller wallet address
• buyer_wallet (string) — buyer wallet address
• sale_price (number) — sale price in ETH or USD
• sale_timestamp (ISO 8601) — time of sale
• prior_trades (array) — list of prior transactions between these wallets, each with seller, buyer, timestamp
• buyer_wallet_created_at (ISO 8601) — wallet creation timestamp
• buyer_incoming_transfers (array) — fund transfers received by buyer wallet in the 72h before purchase, each with from_wallet, amount, timestamp
• floor_price (number) — current collection floor price at time of sale
• same_pair_trade_count_90d (number) — number of trades between this wallet pair in last 90 days
• known_auction_house (boolean) — whether seller is a verified traditional auction house

Detection Patterns (Hierarchy)

• Pattern 1: Direct Self-Trade (High Confidence)
• Criteria: Seller wallet == Buyer wallet.
• Flag: wash_trade_confirmed
• Confidence: 95
• Multiplier: 0.0

• Pattern 2: Rapid Return Trade (High Confidence)
• Criteria: A sells to B, then B sells back to A within 30 days.
• Flag: wash_trade_confirmed
• Confidence: 90
• Multiplier: 0.0

• Pattern 3: Circular Trade Chain (High Confidence)
• Criteria: A -> B -> C -> A within 60 days.
• Flag: wash_trade_confirmed
• Confidence: 85
• Multiplier: 0.0

• Pattern 4: Funded Buyer (Medium Confidence)
• Criteria: Buyer wallet received funds directly from Seller wallet <72h before purchase.
• Flag: wash_trade_suspected
• Confidence: 70
• Multiplier: 0.3

• Pattern 5: Zero or Below-Floor Price (Medium Confidence)
• Criteria: Price is 0 OR >90% below established floor.
• Flag: wash_trade_suspected
• Confidence: 65
• Multiplier: 0.5

• Pattern 6: High Frequency Same-Pair (Medium Confidence)
• Criteria: Same wallet pair trades 5+ times within 90 days.
• Flag: wash_trade_suspected
• Confidence: 60
• Multiplier: 0.6

• Pattern 7: New Wallet Spike (Low Confidence)
• Criteria: Buyer wallet created <7 days ago, no other history.
• Flag: wash_trade_possible
• Confidence: 40
• Multiplier: 0.8

Pattern Combination Rules

When multiple patterns match the same transaction:

• If any Pattern 1, 2, or 3 matches → wash_trade_confirmed regardless of other patterns
• If no Pattern 1, 2, or 3 matches, sum the confidence scores of all matched patterns:
• Combined confidence ≥ 60 → wash_trade_suspected
• Combined confidence < 60 → wash_trade_possible
• weight_applied = the lowest value multiplier among all matched patterns
• wash_trade_pattern = comma-separated list of all matched pattern names

1. Output Logic (Enforcement Rules):

Based on the detected flag status, return a structured result object. The calling system is responsible for all downstream actions.

• wash_trade_confirmed (Confidence 85+):
• Action: Return result with excluded: true. Do not process further.
• Weight: weight_applied: 0.0

• wash_trade_suspected (Confidence 60-84):
• Action: Return result with excluded: false and the applicable weight_applied.
• Note: List all specific patterns matched.

• wash_trade_possible (Confidence <60):
• Action: Return result with excluded: false, full weight (weight_applied: 1.0), and a monitoring note.

1. Recording Requirements (Output Schema):

The output object for every analyzed transaction must contain:

• wash_trade_flag (boolean)
• wash_trade_confidence (0-100)
• wash_trade_pattern (e.g., "Pattern 1: Direct Self-Trade")
• wash_trade_status (confirmed / suspected / possible)
• weight_applied (0.0 - 1.0)
• excluded (boolean)
• analyzed_at (Timestamp)

1. Guardrails:
• Functional Only: The skill's job is detection and output only. No pipeline writes, no database access, and no external integrations.
• Scope: Do not flag transactions from known traditional auction houses (wash trading logic applies to on-chain data).
• Confirmation: Never mark confirmed without a Pattern 1, 2, or 3 match.
• Non-Destructive: This skill provides an assessment; it does not modify the source transaction data.