AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC) provides digital asset (virtual asset) infrastructure built on AhnLab's security expertise and Web3 technology. The company operates ABC Cloud Wallet, a digital asset custody service for enterprises and institutions, alongside a Wallet as a Service (WaaS) business for financial institutions. ABC has recently expanded into areas where institutional finance intersects with digital assets, including stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and RWA (real-world asset tokenization). Throughout this expansion, ABC has treated AML and on-chain fraud detection as core infrastructure and invested accordingly.

This case study, based on an interview with ABC, outlines the limitations of its in-house AML system and how its operations changed after adopting Lambda256's on-chain AML monitoring solution, CLAIR FRAML.

Highlight On June 1, 2026, ABC officially launched 'ABC Cloud Wallet,' a digital asset custody service for individual, corporate, institutional, and foundation clients. This interview covers ABC's overall AML framework amid this business expansion.

Global Risk Data: The Cost of Building and Maintaining It In-House

ABC has operated its own AML system, treating crypto anti-money laundering (AML) and on-chain fraud detection as core risks. Because blockchain networks are open by design, even funds deposited through normal channels can turn out, once their transaction history is traced, to be linked to sanctioned addresses, hacked funds, or darknet-related addresses. Corporate and financial institution clients require more than custody. They need a system that can explain where an asset came from and how it moved.

Areas such as foreign exchange addresses, sanctioned address lists, hacked-fund tracing, and mixer detection all require continuously updated data, and building and maintaining all of this in-house demanded considerable cost and time. ABC began evaluating CLAIR to add reliable external data on top of its existing system, without replacing it.

Korea's regulatory environment reinforces this need. Article 12 of the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, which took effect on July 19, 2024, requires virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to continuously monitor for abnormal transactions and to notify the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service without delay if unfair trading is suspected. On top of this, the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information requires customer due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting (STR), and record retention as mandated by Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Together, these requirements have made real-time detection of on-chain anomalies, backed by evidence for reporting, a baseline requirement for crypto compliance.

CLAIR FRAML: Data Quality Combined with an Understanding of Local Operations

Among the solutions ABC evaluated, the decisive factor in choosing CLAIR FRAML was data quality usable in real AML operations and its understanding of Korean businesses. Before adoption, ABC focused its evaluation on four criteria: data reliability, the range of risk address detection, ease of API integration, and technical support.

Unlike competing solutions, CLAIR FRAML connects fraud detection (on-chain anomaly detection) and AML monitoring within a single operational flow rather than running them as separate systems. For ABC, wallet screening on deposits and withdrawals and suspicious transaction analysis take place on the same platform, allowing the flow of funds from fraud detection through to AML to be tracked without interruption. This is a key differentiator from most global AML solutions, which typically run detection and monitoring as separate systems.

"Many global AML solutions are designed around overseas standards, but what stood out about CLAIR was its strong understanding of the Korean market and the way it delivers data in a format AML practitioners can use directly in their work. We also valued that it doesn't just provide a risk score — it comes with supporting data and analysis that back up the operator's judgment."

Jackson Kang, PO, AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC)

CLAIR FRAML is also currently used under white-label arrangements by more than 10 global public agencies and law enforcement bodies. Being able to draw on the same data and analytical framework used by regulators and investigative agencies, not just private-sector VASPs, was one of the key reasons ABC chose CLAIR in terms of data reliability and detection scope.

ABC said it now uses CLAIR for wallet screening on deposit and withdrawal addresses, plus crypto transaction risk scoring. When a customer's deposit or withdrawal address is screened and flagged above a certain risk score, it goes through an internal review process. AML staff also use CLAIR as reference data when analyzing suspicious transactions, improving the accuracy of risk assessments alongside ABC's own AML system. The risk address identification feature, which shows what type of entity a given address is connected to, and the on-chain fund flow analysis feature, which traces past fund movements, have proven especially useful.

Because AML operating policies differ from business to business, ABC spent the early stage of adoption comparing its existing internal policies with CLAIR's risk classification system and adjusting alert thresholds and review processes accordingly. The current operating framework took shape through repeated cycles of tuning alert criteria and having the operations team and AML staff verify the results.

Faster Analysis and Better Visibility Drive Operational Efficiency

"Where AML staff once had to collect and analyze data manually from multiple sources, they can now access the information they need much faster. Visibility into overseas risk addresses and global risk data has also improved, letting our staff focus more on higher-risk transactions and improving overall operational efficiency."

Jackson Kang, PO, AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC)

CLAIR FRAML's multi-hop fund flow tracing goes beyond simple blacklist address lookups, analyzing how many steps funds have moved through.
It can trace step-by-step connections even for funds routed through mixers or bridges, surfacing indirect exposure in transactions that would otherwise look legitimate on the surface.

ABC noted that, as it expands into new services such as stablecoins, bridges, DeFi, and RWA, it expects the related data coverage and detection scope to continue to grow stronger.

Extending the AML Framework Across the Custody and WaaS Platforms

Going forward, ABC plans to integrate AML capabilities more tightly into both its custody service, ABC Cloud Wallet, and its WaaS platform, so customers can meet regulatory requirements without building a separate system of their own. As financial institutions prepare to launch services in stablecoins, tokenized deposits, RWA, and digital asset custody, ABC sees AML becoming a mandatory requirement rather than an option.

ABC and Lambda256 are currently running a joint project to trace digital-asset crime transactions, and are jointly researching techniques for tracing and analyzing money laundering conducted through mixers. As more cases emerge of hacked funds, criminal proceeds, and sanctions-evasion funds being laundered through mixing services, this is seen as an area that private companies and public agencies need to address together.

"As the digital asset market becomes part of institutional finance, I believe AML and compliance are the core infrastructure that builds trust across the industry. If ABC and Lambda256 combine our respective strengths, I expect we can help create an environment where financial institutions and corporate customers can use digital assets more safely."

Jackson Kang, PO, AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC)

What's Next for ABC Wallet?

The next goal is to more tightly integrate AML capabilities across the custody service and WaaS platform, including the recently launched ABC Cloud Wallet. Together with Lambda256, ABC is also jointly researching techniques for tracing money laundering conducted through mixers, aiming to help set industry standards not only for stablecoin, RWA, and institutional digital asset services, but also for anti-money laundering and criminal-proceeds tracing.

Hear the story directly from ABC's Jackson Kang, PO, in the interview below.

▶️ Interview with Jackson Kang, PO, AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC)

About CLAIR

CLAIR is a crypto AML solution and compliance engine that supports on-chain AML monitoring. Operated by Lambda256, the engine integrates on-chain and off-chain data through an ontology-based model, delivering everything from on-chain fraud detection (FDS) to an automated STR (suspicious transaction reporting) workflow in a single platform. Through multi-hop on-chain fund flow analysis and knowledge-graph-based relationship analysis, CLAIR maps money-laundering typologies and addresses domain-specific requirements for financial institutions, VASPs, issuers, and regulators, and is used under white-label arrangements by more than 10 global public agencies and law enforcement bodies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How is on-chain AML monitoring different from a traditional off-chain AML system?

Off-chain AML centers on internal databases at exchanges and banks, while on-chain AML monitoring analyzes wallet addresses, transactions, and contract data on the blockchain in real time to detect risks unique to on-chain activity, such as sanctioned addresses or funds routed through mixers. CLAIR combines this on-chain data with off-chain KYC and risk data so it can be operated as a single, unified compliance framework.

Q. If a virtual asset service provider (VASP) adopts CLAIR, does it actually reduce the burden of STR and compliance work?

CLAIR analyzes alert data, transaction history, and on-chain forensics to automatically generate a draft STR report using AI. As in ABC's case, organizations that already run their own AML system use CLAIR's risk address identification and on-chain fund flow analysis data as supplementary reference material, reducing the manual investigation and reporting burden on crypto compliance staff.

Request Demo

You can request the CLAIR FRAML product overview and a demo.

References

• Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, Article 12 (Monitoring of Abnormal Transactions), Korea Law Information Center: https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=261099
• Financial Services Commission press release, "Enforcement of the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users" (2024.07.18): https://www.fsc.go.kr/po010101/82682
• Financial Services Commission press release, on AML obligations for virtual asset service providers: https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/75409