What a high AML risk level means

Every incoming transaction undergoes an automatic AML check (KYT — Know Your Transaction).

The check analyses the sources of the funds, the movement history of the assets and the risk categories associated with them.

A high AML risk level means that sources or patterns potentially linked to illegal, unregulated or high-risk activity have been found in the transaction chain.

If the overall Risk Score is above 60%, the exchange will be temporarily suspended and an additional check will be required.

Which risk sources are analysed

Dangerous sources (High Risk)

These categories include sources that in most cases require an additional check and often lead to operations being suspended:

Mixer - Services for mixing crypto assets, used to conceal the origin of funds.
Sanctions - Funds linked to sanctioned persons or organisations (OFAC, UN, etc.).
Ransom - Funds linked to extortion and cyberattacks.
Scam - Fraudulent schemes, investment pyramids, phishing.
Dark Market / Dark Service - Illegal markets and services on the darknet (weapons, drugs, forged documents, etc.).
Illegal Service - Unlicensed or expressly prohibited financial and other services.
Terrorism Financing - Financing of terrorist activity.
Child Exploitation - The category with the most critical level of risk.
Stolen Coins - Stolen or hacked crypto assets.
Fraudulent Exchange - Exchanges and services involved in fraud or shut down by regulators.
Enforcement Action - Funds involved in regulatory or court proceedings.
High-Risk Jurisdiction / Special Measures - Jurisdictions and entities with increased country or regulatory risk (FATF, FinCEN).

Suspicious sources (Medium Risk)

These categories do not always indicate illegal activity, but they often require the context to be analysed:

ATM — crypto ATMs — buying or selling cryptocurrency through physical terminals; often involves simplified or no KYC, which increases AML risk.
DEX — decentralised exchanges without a central operator; trades take place directly between users via smart contracts, and the source of funds often cannot be identified.
Liquidity Pools — liquidity pools in DeFi protocols formed by users; funds may be mixed between many participants.
Smart Contracts — programmable contracts on the blockchain that execute the terms of operations automatically; they do not involve identifying the parties.
Privacy Protocols (Monero and similar) — blockchains and protocols with enhanced transaction anonymisation that makes it impossible to trace the source of funds.
Unlicensed / Weakly Regulated Exchanges — crypto exchanges without a licence or with nominal regulation; control over the origin of funds is limited.
Unnamed Services — services without a clearly established legal entity, public identification or transparent business model.
Infrastructure as a Service (VPN, VPS, domains) — payments for digital infrastructure; often used to conceal activity or circumvent restrictions.
Token / Lending Smart Contracts — token issuance and decentralised lending protocols; funds may come from mixed and unidentified sources.
Dust transactions — micro-transfers of minimal value; may be used to track addresses or disguise activity.
Personal / Custodial Wallets — personal or custodial wallets; the level of risk depends on the address history and transaction links.
NFT marketplaces — platforms for trading NFTs; asset values may be inflated and funds moved without economic purpose.

Reliable sources (Low Risk)

As a rule, these do not lead to restrictions in the absence of other risk factors:

Miner / Mining Pool — rewards for mining cryptocurrency or participating in a mining pool; the source of funds is considered primary.
Licensed Exchanges — licensed crypto exchanges with full AML/KYC procedures.
Payment Processors — payment providers acting as intermediaries between users and merchants.
Seized Assets (legalised) — assets previously seized and officially returned or sold in accordance with the law.
Marketplace / Merchant Services — payments from marketplaces and commercial services for goods or services.
ICO — initial token offerings with transparent documentation and no signs of fraud.
Bridge operations — transfer of assets between blockchains via cross-chain bridges; the risk depends on the history of the funds.
Verified Wallets — wallets linked to verified services or legal entities.

What process is applied during the check

KYT — Know Your Transaction

An automatic check of every incoming transaction and calculation of the overall Risk Score.

SoF — Source of Funds

A request for an explanation of the source of funds if the Risk Score is elevated.

KYC — Know Your Customer

Requested if the exchange cannot continue without identifying the user.

Possible scenarios when the risk is high

If the check reveals an elevated or high AML risk:

the order may be temporarily suspended;
the user may be asked for explanations (SoF);
in some cases KYC verification may be required;
after the check, the funds are refunded.

How to reduce the risk before creating an order

You can check an address or transaction in advance.

How to carry out a preliminary AML check

Step 1. Go to the AML check page

Step 2. Paste the cryptocurrency address

Step 3. Choose the type of check (we recommend GetBlock)

Step 4. Review the Risk Score and the risk categories

Step 5.

— if the risk is low, create an order and send the funds to start the exchange

— if the risk is high, we recommend not sending the funds or contacting support in advance to check whether the exchange is possible

You can share the check results with the operator before creating an order.

📌 You can read more about the AML / CTF & KYC rules on the relevant page of the service.

How the AML check works

What a high AML risk level means

Which risk sources are analysed

What process is applied during the check

Possible scenarios when the risk is high

How to reduce the risk before creating an order