Crypto AML red flags include mixer use, sanctioned-address contact, stolen-fund links, structuring and rapid layering — any of which can trigger an exchange hold; Plastron scans your wallet for these red flags free.

Anti-money laundering red flags in crypto are the specific wallet characteristics and transaction patterns that trigger exchange compliance systems to flag a deposit for manual review or hold. Understanding these red flags is essential for every crypto user because exchange AML systems generate flags automatically, without human judgment, and the consequences of a flag — a frozen account, a source-of-funds request, a months-long investigation — are disproportionately severe for users who had no awareness that their wallet contained any risk. There are two broad categories of AML red flags in crypto: counterparty-based flags and behavioral flags. Counterparty-based flags arise from the specific entities your wallet has transacted with: direct OFAC SDN interactions (the highest severity flag), interactions with known mixer contracts like Tornado Cash, receiving funds from wallet addresses linked to exploits or stolen fund events, interactions with known darknet market addresses, and interactions with fraud or phishing-related contracts. These flags are generated by matching your wallet's counterparties against risk databases. Behavioral flags arise from patterns in your transaction history that resemble known money laundering typologies: receiving and rapidly forwarding funds without apparent commercial purpose (consistent with layering), structuring transactions in amounts just below reporting thresholds (consistent with smurfing), unusual transaction timing clusters that deviate significantly from the baseline pattern, round-number transactions at high frequency, and the absence of identifiable economic purpose for significant transfers. Both categories of flags are detectable in your own wallet before you make a deposit — counterparty flags through screening tools like Plastron, and behavioral flags through transaction pattern analysis. The key insight is that most of these red flags are fixable before they trigger an exchange hold: knowing about them in advance gives you the opportunity to prepare documentation or take a different approach.