SIXPENCE
Back to Blog
•
6 min read

What Is Know Your Address (KYA) in Crypto?

Know Your Address (KYA) means screening a blockchain address for risk and attributing it to an entity before you transact. Here is how it works and how Sixpence supports it.

Research

What Is Know Your Address (KYA) in Crypto?

Direct answer

Know Your Address (KYA) means checking a blockchain address before you transact with it: screening it for risk signals, such as exposure to sanctioned or high-risk sources, and attributing it to an entity where possible. It answers a focused question: is this specific address safe to send to or receive from? KYA sits alongside Know Your Customer (KYC), which verifies a person, and Know Your Transaction (KYT), which monitors transactions over time.

Why this matters

On a public blockchain, anyone can generate an address, and an address alone tells you very little. Yet sending funds to the wrong address can mean exposure to a sanctioned party, a scam, or stolen funds. For a crypto business, screening addresses is part of meeting anti-money-laundering (AML) and sanctions obligations. For an individual, a quick check can avoid sending value into a risky destination.

How it works

KYA combines two ideas: screening and attribution.

Screening checks an address against known risk data. A common and important input is sanctions lists. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has, since 2018, published cryptocurrency wallet addresses on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, and US persons and businesses are expected to screen for and avoid transactions with listed addresses. The European Union and the United Nations maintain their own sanctions regimes. Screening can also flag other signals, such as exposure to mixers or darknet markets.

Attribution tries to connect an address to a real-world entity or cluster of addresses, for example an exchange, a service, or a known actor. This is where blockchain analytics adds context: a single address becomes part of a larger picture.

The output is usually a risk indication rather than a yes or no. As with any analytics, a risk signal is decision-support, not proof of wrongdoing, and how you act on it depends on your policy and jurisdiction.

KYA, KYT, and KYC

Term Focus
KYC (Know Your Customer) Verifying who a customer is
KYA (Know Your Address) Screening and attributing a specific address
KYT (Know Your Transaction) Monitoring transactions over time

These are complementary. KYA is the address-level check; KYT is the ongoing transaction view. See the related guide on KYT for the transaction side.

Practical example or analogy

Think of KYA like checking the reputation and details of a bank account before you wire money to it. You are not verifying the person again; you are checking whether this particular destination is associated with anything that should give you pause. A clean check is reassuring, and a flagged one is a prompt to look closer, not an automatic verdict.

Key steps or considerations

  1. Decide when you screen. Common points are before sending, before crediting a deposit, and when onboarding a counterparty.
  2. Choose your risk data. At minimum, sanctions lists (OFAC, UN, EU). Many teams add mixer, darknet, and scam exposure.
  3. Read the score in context. A risk score is a signal to be reviewed, not a conviction. Decide your thresholds and escalation policy in advance.
  4. Keep a record. Log what you screened and the result, so you can show your process during an audit.
  5. Mind the jurisdiction. Sanctions and AML obligations differ by country and licence.

How LedgerBrain supports KYA

Sixpence supports address screening through LedgerBrain. Its AML screening checks a wallet address against OFAC, UN, and EU sanctions lists and known threat databases, and returns a real-time risk score on a 0 to 100 scale. Alongside the score, it surfaces specific signals such as OFAC sanctions exposure, darknet exposure, and mixer usage, so a reviewer can see why an address scored the way it did rather than just receiving a number.

For one-off or automated checks, the same address screening is available as a pay-per-report KYA report through the x402 API, priced per report with no account required. This suits a business that wants to screen an address inside a workflow without taking a full platform seat.

Where you need to go beyond a single address, LedgerBrain also traces fund flows and supports investigation, so an address check can lead into a broader review. The point of these capabilities is to turn an unfamiliar address into structured context a team can act on and document.

Limitations and compliance considerations

  • A risk score is a signal, not proof. Human review, your thresholds, and your policy decide the outcome.
  • Sanctions lists change frequently. OFAC updates entries, including crypto addresses, on a rolling basis, so screening needs current data.
  • Attribution is probabilistic. Address-to-entity links are based on analysis and can carry uncertainty.
  • Obligations depend on context. What you must screen for depends on your jurisdiction, your licence, and your activity. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is KYA the same as KYT? No. KYA screens and attributes a specific address. KYT monitors transactions over time. Many compliance programs use both.

Can someone harm me just by knowing my address? Your public address can be viewed and analysed by anyone, which is why screening exists. Knowing an address does not give someone control of your funds, but it does make your activity visible on-chain.

What does a high address risk score mean? It means the address has exposure to risk signals (for example sanctions, mixers, or darknet activity) that warrant review. It is not a definitive judgment.

Which sanctions lists matter? It depends on your jurisdiction. OFAC (US), the EU, and the UN each maintain regimes; LedgerBrain screens against OFAC, UN, and EU lists.

Conclusion

Know Your Address is the focused check that asks whether a specific blockchain address is safe to transact with, by screening it for risk and attributing it to an entity. It pairs with KYC at the customer level and KYT at the transaction level. Sixpence supports KYA through LedgerBrain, which screens addresses against OFAC, UN, and EU lists with an explainable 0 to 100 risk score, and through the x402 KYA report for per-check access. To see the signals it returns, review the LedgerBrain address-screening details at ledgerbrain.io.

Sources

All PostsBack to Home