Chain Analytics
Chain analytics is the analysis of blockchain transactions to trace the origin, destination, and risk of crypto funds, using tools that score wallets and flag exposure to sanctioned addresses, mixers, or illicit sources. It is the crypto-native counterpart to traditional transaction monitoring.
A crypto business that cannot show chain-analytics screening will struggle to keep fiat banking, since banks increasingly require evidence that inbound crypto is not tainted. Building chain analytics into your compliance stack before you apply is part of what turns a crypto banking application from a decline into a review.
An on-ramp converts fiat currency into crypto; an off-ramp converts crypto back into fiat.
The Travel Rule is a FATF requirement that obliges virtual asset service providers to collect and pass on originator and beneficiary information alongside crypto transfers above a set threshold, mirroring the data long required for traditional wire transfers under FATF Recommendation 16.
A Virtual Asset Service Provider is a business registered or licensed to exchange, custody, or transfer crypto assets on behalf of customers, a classification introduced by the FATF Travel Rule and adopted into national registration regimes across most jurisdictions that touch fiat rails.
Sanctions screening is the checking of customers, counterparties, and transactions against government and international sanctions lists, such as those maintained by the UN, EU, OFAC, and the UK.