How to Spot “Dirty” Cryptocurrency? 5 AML Checkers for Screening Assets

Published: October 2, 2026 – 14:34 UTC

• What is an AML check for cryptocurrency, and why is it needed

• How to check assets before buying or transferring

• What the AML checker shows and how to interpret the screening results

• How to Choose an AML Checker

• What should you do if your cryptocurrency has already been blocked?

• Takeaways

Imagine this situation — you bought cryptocurrency via an exchange service or a P2P platform, received the assets in your wallet, and at first noticed nothing unusual. But later, one of the services refused to accept a transfer, and after topping up your account on a centralized exchange, the platform restricted operations and requested information about the source of funds.

The cause of these issues may be the history of the cryptocurrency you received. Before the deal, it could have passed through addresses linked to hacks, fraud, sanctions, or other high-risk sources, which violates the security rules of most platforms.

The Incrypted editorial team looked into how AML screening works, which services you can use to check assets, and what to do if your funds have already been frozen.

What Is an AML Check for Cryptocurrency, and Why Is It Needed

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) is a set of measures designed to combat money laundering. In the crypto industry, AML, KYT, and compliance tools typically combine address and transaction checks, transaction monitoring, and sanctions screening.

They make it possible to analyze the origin of assets and identify links to potentially risky sources.

Cryptocurrency with this kind of history is often called “dirty.” For example, assets may have been stolen in an exchange hack, passed through several intermediary wallets, and then ended up with a seller on a P2P platform. The buyer may know nothing about their origin, but the previous movements of the funds remain recorded on the blockchain.

AML services analyze such chains and match addresses against known risk categories. In practice, an AML check helps you:

spot sanctions and other risk flags before the deal
understand which links affected the final score
decide whether you need to request additional information from the counterparty or pause the transfer

For the average user, an AML check is primarily useful before a P2P deal, receiving a large payment, or depositing cryptocurrency to a centralized exchange.

That said, the result of an AML check on its own does not allow for a definitive conclusion about the legality of the funds’ origin. A link to a high-risk address does not prove that specific assets were obtained illegally or that their current owner is involved in wrongdoing.

How to Check Assets Before Buying or Transferring

You can start with a basic check using a blockchain explorer. By public address or TxID — a unique transaction identifier — Etherscan, Tronscan, and similar services let you view transaction history, transfer amounts, counterparty addresses, and interactions with smart contracts.

However, interpreting this data on your own is difficult. Without additional information, it is impossible to determine exactly who owns a specific address and whether it is associated, for example, with an exchange, a mixer, a scam service, or a regular user.

If this is a P2P deal, check the counterparty separately. Review their rating, transaction history, and verification status on the platform. For a large deal, you can also request proof of the assets’ origin. This kind of check helps you assess the seller’s reliability, but it does not replace analyzing the funds’ history on-chain.

In general, before sending funds or right after receiving a transaction, it’s worth double-checking a few things:

Asset, network, and details. Verify the token, network, amount, and recipient address against the deal terms. After creating the transaction, also double-check the TxID;
Source of the transfer. Confirm whether the funds are coming from a personal wallet or a centralized exchange. When withdrawing from a CEX, the sender will typically be the platform’s address;
the address or transaction history. Check whether there are links to sanctioned addresses, stolen funds, fraud, mixers, and other risky sources
cross-chain transfers. If the funds went through a bridge, part of the history may be on another network. In that case, you need to check the related blockchains
the report’s freshness. If the counterparty sent a ready-made AML report, verify the address, network or TxID, and the check date in it.

You can also check an address against public sanctions lists. For example, OFAC lets you search for digital addresses in the Sanctions List Search by exact value.

If the sender’s address is not known in advance, for example when withdrawing from an exchange, you won’t be able to check it before payment. In that case, save the deal details, the amount, and the selected network, and after the transfer, match the TxID and check the transaction itself via an AML service.

What an AML Checker Shows and How to Interpret the Screening Results

Regardless of the service, an AML report will most likely include an overall risk assessment — the so-called Risk Score. In addition, different checkers may show the identified risk categories, the sources of incoming funds, as well as direct and indirect links to certain types of addresses:

in most AML reports, a direct link means a direct interaction with a risky source or an exact match with a risk label
an indirect link means a connection through one or more intermediary addresses.

Specific definitions depend on the service’s methodology, so when interpreting the report, it’s important to follow its own terminology. The longer such a chain is, the more important it is to look not only at the fact of the link itself, but also at its nature, how recent it is, and the share of funds it relates to.

Risk Score also needs to be interpreted correctly. For example, a score of 70/100 or 70% does not mean that 70% of the funds are of illicit origin. It is an internal rating of a specific service, calculated using its own methodology.

AML platforms use different databases, risk categories, and weightings for individual factors. That’s why the same address can receive different scores across multiple services. Even the direction of the scale can differ — for some services, a higher score means higher risk, while for others it’s the opposite.

So it’s better to treat the score as a guideline rather than proof that the cryptocurrency is “clean.”

What risk categories may appear in a report

In addition to the overall score, AML checkers usually show what types of addresses or sources the checked transaction is associated with. The set of categories depends on the specific service, but most often you’ll see the following:

scam/fraud — addresses associated with fraudulent schemes
stolen funds — funds linked to exchange or wallet hacks, and other theft incidents
sanctions — addresses associated with sanctioned individuals or organizations
mixers — services that make it harder to trace the origin and movement of cryptocurrency
darknet markets — addresses associated with darknet marketplaces
ransomware — addresses used to receive ransom payments in ransomware attacks
gambling — interactions with gambling services
high-risk exchange — links to exchanges that a given AML platform classifies as higher risk

These labels are usually considered alongside other factors, such as the type of interaction mentioned above. For example, a high Risk Score combined with a direct link to Stolen Funds calls for closer scrutiny than an indirect link to Mixers through several intermediary addresses.

In practice, even with low risk, it’s still worth saving the TxID and the deal details. With medium risk, review the categories that affected the score, and, if needed, clarify the origin of the funds. With high risk, it’s better to pause the transaction until the details are clarified, and if the assets have already been received or frozen, gather documents confirming their origin.

5 Popular AML Checkers for Crypto Screening

AML services differ in the number of supported networks, the depth of analysis, pricing, and report formats. Some are designed for one-off checks by retail users, while others offer deeper relationship analysis and tools for professional monitoring.

Service	Free check	Pricing	Support	Key features
AMLBot	1 free check after registration	$3 per check; 10 — $25; 25 — $50	35+ blockchains	addresses and transactions, Risk Score, AML report
Cryptomus	free check available	10 — 4.4 USDT; 20 — 8.6 USDT; 50 — 21 USDT	bitcoin, Ethereum, BSC, Tron, Arbitrum, Avalanche, and others	addresses and transactions, 25+ risk factors, PDF, API
GetBlock	not stated	roughly from $0.50 per check	bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash	addresses and transactions, 30+ criteria, Risk Score, PDF
Scorechain	1 check in Telegram; 5 in Scorechain AI	report — from €29; bundles — from €149	21+ blockchains	Risk Score, direct and indirect links, counterparties, PDF/CSV
MistTrack	MistTrack Light and basic checks — free	Developer — $20 for 100 API calls; Basic — $229 per month	19 blockchains	Risk Score, labels, counterparties, transaction graph

Table 1. Comparison of popular AML services for crypto screening. Data: Incrypted.

Pricing and feature data is verified as of October 2026. Terms may change, so it is worth double-checking them before use.

AMLBot

Key features: address and transaction checks, Risk Score with Low, Medium, and High levels, risk categories and sources, AML report.
Pricing: 1 free check after registration; $3 per one-off check; 10 checks — $25; 25 checks — $50.

AMLBot is designed for both one-off checks by individual users and ongoing monitoring. The service lets you analyze addresses and transactions, and wallet screening, according to the company, covers more than 35 blockchains, including popular networks for USDT and USDC.

Based on the results, the user receives an overall risk rating and a breakdown by the identified categories and sources. This is enough to understand which links affected the score. More advanced modes are aimed at businesses, bulk screening, and API integration.

Cryptomus

Key features: wallet and transaction checks, Risk Score based on more than 25 factors, check history, PDF report, and API.
Pricing: a free check is available; 10 checks — 4.4 USDT; 20 — 8.6 USDT; 50 — 21 USDT.

The AML Checker by Cryptomus is built into the platform’s ecosystem and works with both addresses and TxID. The service calculates a risk score based on more than 25 factors, including sanctions, fraud, mixers, stolen funds, and other categories.

The list of available coins and networks is generated dynamically and may change, so before running a check, it’s best to select a specific asset and see which networks are available for it. Your account keeps a history of requests, and a separate AML API is available for automation.

GetBlock

Key features: address and transaction checks, Risk Score from 0 to 100, fund distribution by risk categories, identification of linked address types, compliance flags, PDF report, and API.
Pricing: from about $0.50 per check; payment from a prepaid balance with no mandatory subscription.

GetBlock launched Crypto AML in September 2026. The service supports five networks — bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash — and lets you check both addresses and individual transactions via the web interface or API.

The scoring model uses more than 30 criteria, including on-chain links, address attribution, sanctions lists, mixer data, scams, and hacks. For Ethereum and Tron, transaction screening also supports USDT and USDC alongside native assets.

Scorechain

Key features: Risk Score, direct and indirect links, counterparty classification, behavioral signals, activity history, and PDF and CSV reports.
Pricing: 1 free check in Telegram and 5 reports in Scorechain AI; paid reports — from €29; bundles — from €149.

Scorechain offers two formats for one-off checks. The Telegram bot is designed for a quick wallet assessment, while Scorechain AI generates a more detailed report with transaction participant classification, direct and indirect exposure, and behavioral signals.

For deeper analysis, KYA and KYT reports are available. The service supports more than 21 blockchains and shows not only the overall risk level, but also the structure of links, counterparties, and address activity. Results can be saved for further analysis.

MistTrack

Key features: Risk Score, address labels, counterparty and transaction action analysis, graphs, monitoring, and screening across 19 blockchains.
Pricing: MistTrack Light and basic checks are available for free; Developer Plan — $20 for 100 API calls; Basic Plan — $229 per month, Standard — $689, Compliance — $2,069.

MistTrack combines free tools for basic analysis with a paid platform for deeper fund tracing. The free MistTrack Light is suitable for searching and initial address assessment, while Premium adds address profiles, transaction graphs, monitoring, and other investigation tools.

A separate USDT Risk Assessment supports USDT on Tron, Ethereum, and BNB Smart Chain. Higher-tier plans add investigations, DEX and bridge analysis, an expanded API, AML Screening, and Risk Analytics, so the feature set depends heavily on the plan you choose.

How to Choose an AML Checker

The key selection criterion is the purpose of the check. For example, a basic Risk Score may be enough for a quick assessment, while tracing the origin of funds requires a detailed report. So before using an AML service, consider the following:

whether it supports the asset you need
whether it works with the required network
whether it analyzes addresses, transactions, or both
whether it shows only the Risk Score or also risk categories and sources of funds
whether it displays direct and indirect links
whether you can save or download the report
how much a single check costs, and whether you need to buy a package
whether there is a free or trial analysis

For a one-off check, a service that analyzes an address or transaction and provides a basic breakdown of the Risk Score is usually enough. If you need to confirm the origin of funds or prepare an explanation for an exchange, it is better to choose a tool with a more detailed report covering risk categories, sources of assets, and identified links.

What to Do if Your Cryptocurrency Is Already Blocked?

First, you need to determine who exactly imposed the restriction and what it applies to. For example, a centralized exchange may suspend deposits, withdrawals, or certain account actions due to an internal AML check. In this case, you should contact the platform’s support team directly.

Tokens can also be blocked at the issuer level. For example, Tether may, in certain cases, blacklist an address and freeze the USDT held on it, including at the request of government, judicial, law enforcement, or regulatory authorities. In that case, communication happens directly with the issuer or the relevant government bodies.

In any case, until the circumstances are clarified, save the TxID, the sender and recipient addresses, deal details, transfer history, and your correspondence with the platform.

If you can’t reconstruct the flow of funds or draft an appeal on your own, you can bring in specialized experts. For example, Reclaim Capital supports cases involving frozen USDT totaling $100,000 or more, conducts KYT audits, analyzes transactions, and helps establish communication with Tether’s compliance team.

How to confirm the origin of funds

An AML report on its own may not be enough to lift restrictions. It shows detected risky links, but it doesn’t explain under what circumstances a specific user received the cryptocurrency.

That’s why you need to reconstruct the chain of funds’ origin and show where they came from, when and how they were obtained, and how they ended up at the address under review. Supporting evidence may include:

for a P2P purchase — deal details, proof of payment, and the corresponding TxID
for an exchange purchase — trading history and withdrawal history
for receiving payment for goods or services — contracts, bills, or invoices
for transfers between your own wallets — the history of the relevant transactions

The more intermediate steps there were in the chain, the more documents you may need. Specialized firms can also compile and package this evidence. For instance, Reclaim Capital helps prepare a Legal Opinion and other materials to document and substantiate the origin of assets.

Takeaways

You can’t clearly split cryptocurrency into “clean” and illicit based on a single AML metric. AML services help identify potentially risky links and assess the history of fund flows, but their conclusions depend on the databases and methodologies used. That’s why Risk Score should be treated more as a guideline than a final verdict on a crypto asset’s origin.

In practice, it’s not only the initial asset screening that matters, but also your ability to prove how you obtained the funds. TxIDs, P2P trade details, exchange statements, invoices, and other documents can play a key role if a platform asks you to explain the source of funds or restricts transactions.

FAQ

Check the address or transaction using a blockchain explorer and an AML service. Evaluate not only the Risk Score, but also the risk categories and the nature of the links identified during the asset’s movement.

Select the required network, such as Ethereum or Tron, and check the address or transaction in an AML service. You can also use the token’s smart contract in a block explorer to check whether the address is blocked.

Enter the public address in the AML checker and select the appropriate network. A seed phrase, private key, and password are not required for this check.

Find out which category affected the score and how direct the connection is. If the risk is high, it is better to отказаться from the deal. If the funds have already been received, save the TxID and documents confirming their origin.

Yes, some AML services offer free or trial checks. More detailed reports are usually available on a paid basis.

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Source: Incrypted