- Reduced transaction monitoring time from weeks to minutes
- Visibility to saving at least $500,000-$1,000,000 annually
- Enabled a risk-based approach to preventing unwanted customer transactions
- Build trust with clients by educating and halting the processing of suspicious transactions
Chainalysis is the long-term partner we were seeking to round out our compliance-first approach. Chainalysis will be visible and integrated with all our systems, whether centralized finance or decentralized finance, for as long as we’re in existence.”
About Centralex
Centralex was founded in late 2018 to facilitate the bridge between CeFi and DeFi by providing an online hybrid cryptocurrency platform (Custo-DeFi). The company’s vision and mission is to create a one-stop digital asset platform with greater usage and acceptance of cryptocurrencies as an alternative form of payment. This company with affiliations throughout the finance market empowers both retail customers and professional traders.
Challenge
Centralex wanted to complement its world-class compliance and governance approach with on-chain monitoring of blockchain transactions on its exchange. Its goal was to partner with a trusted, reputable vendor offering top-notch technology tuned to the specific needs of the crypto space.
Solution
Centralex chose Chainalysis based on their market reputation, risk-based approach and full automation of transaction stops. To enable its exchange and custodial DeFi service, it selected Chainalysis Know Your Transaction (KYT) to monitor crypto transactions and detect potential bad actors, and Chainalysis Reactor to investigate and combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions.
Chainalysis empowers us to make the right decisions with the data to back us up. They help us sleep at night.”
What prompted your initial interest in working with a company like Chainalysis?
It started with our compliance officer saying it was great that we had all paperwork and governance in place but questioned how we were able to monitor real-world transactions and enforce our policies. We were already using Fireblocks because we didn’t want to be a typical custodial exchange where we store private keys. But we needed to conduct proper transaction monitoring.
So, we looked for a tool and a team we could trust, a reputable partner with a great set of technology. Because the blockchain space was so new when we started our search, there weren’t many vendors to consider. We evaluated solutions other than Chainalysis but weren’t confident or comfortable after meeting with the vendors. For example, at that time, Elliptic was not fully automated at the time we spoke with them so it would have been a manual process to integrate a KYC system directly into our wallet system or exchange.
Many people referred us to Chainalysis. Once we started following Chainalysis and understood their reputation in the market, the partnerships they had established and saw Chainalysis Reactor and other offerings, it was a no-brainer. Chainalysis shows every level of risk and fully automates transaction stops. If a dark web transaction hit our exchange, it would be stopped and we would know to contact our local authorities.
What has been your experience using the Chainalysis solution and working with their team?
It’s been fantastic. Even in a short period of time, we’ve seen business results. Chainalysis empowers us to make the right decisions with the data to back us up. After our compliance officer completed the certification provided by Chainalysis, he was able to monitor and trace transactions. For example, last week, we showed him a transaction from an XRP. With Chainalysis, he could backtrack everything.
Another example is that two supposed institutional clients wanted to recently onboard with Centralex. Our gut told us something was off and after they provided their deposit addresses, we did a deep scan using Chainalysis. It confirmed our suspicions so we immediately broke contact with the individuals and continued our business as usual.
It was a really good decision to take Chainalysis as our KYT partner. It helps us sleep at night. We highly recommend any new and existing companies in the industry consider Chainalysis their most important partner, just as we’re doing.
