The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has unveiled new guidance on its risk-based policies that modernize: anti money laundering (AML) regulations, combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT) statutes, and sanction compliance protocols — with regard to the cryptocurrency industry. 

External Data as a KYC solution 

Federally mandated know-your-client (KYC) regulations now apply to cryptocurrency payment providers in the same manner as they are applied to traditional financial institutions. 

Crypto payment providers must act; those that rely on manual due diligence systems may not be equipped to verify clients quickly enough and may run the risk of non-compliance. 

Non-compliance can result in monetary penalties or even criminal investigations. The current environment demands an automated process that verifies clients and flags for relevant risks in real-time. Bottom line, manual compliance audits may not be an optimized solution; especially when automation is readily available via the use of external data options.

External Data Demystified

Fortunately, there are a plethora of external data options available in the Demyst Ecosystem that can inform crypto payment providers’ risk-based strategies and decision-making processes as part of their KYC workflow automation. 

Demyst’s databases enable clients to: cross reference an individual's virtual currency address against sanctions lists, utilize geolocation data to deny services to those in sanctioned jurisdictions, verify transaction information, and more.

Sign up for a free Demyst account and learn how to generate insight from a single API. 

Questions? Reach out to Demyst’s international 24/7/365 support team via the in-platform chat or at support@demystdata.com.