OFAC compliance for crypto startups
Crypto startups can self-host a MIT-licensed screener and start on a free tier before paying anything.
TL;DR
TL;DR: Crypto startups can meet OFAC screening obligations affordably by starting on a free tier, self-hosting the MIT-licensed API, and adding risk scoring and counterparty verification as they scale.
Affordable by design
A startup does not need an enterprise compliance budget. The free tier gives 5 checks per day with no signup and no key, Dev is $19 per month for 10,000 checks, and Pro is $99 per month for 100,000 checks. Because the API is MIT-licensed and self-hostable, a startup can also run it inside its own infrastructure at zero per-check licensing cost.
What to screen
- Wallet addresses: 947 OFAC-listed crypto wallets.
- Entity names: 19,218 SDN names from the US Treasury sdn.csv.
- Jurisdictions: 16 jurisdictions, synced hourly.
Grow into compliance
Start with sanctions_check for the basic ALLOW or BLOCK decision, then layer on risk_score for a risk view, kya_verify to document counterparties, and dispute_open to handle flagged matches. This lets a startup build a full compliance posture incrementally instead of bolting it on after a violation or an investor question.