Nearly half of 2026 crypto entrants use 2020 top alert standards

Nearly half of the organizations that entered the crypto industry in 2026 are using alert configurations that would have placed them in the top 10% of strictness in 2020, according to a Chainalysis report preview published Wednesday. The report examined alert severity, trigger sensitivity and minimum dollar detection floors across newly onboarded firms.

Chainalysis found about 47% of firms onboarded this year adopted settings comparable to 2020’s industry leaders. The firm reported a clear tightening of baseline alerting standards since 2020, with many firms raising how sensitive triggers are and lowering the dollar thresholds that prompt investigations.

The analysis shows greater consistency in direct monitoring, defined as flags raised when funds arrive immediately from a known illicit source. By contrast, indirect monitoring — where funds pass through intermediary addresses before reaching a platform — remains less strict across much of the industry.

Chainalysis noted that only 10% of firms met the top alerting requirements in 2020 and that adoption of stricter settings accelerated from 2023 onward. The report included direct language on the shift:

Newer entrants are launching with more aggressive monitoring,” and added, “Standard compliance configurations today would have been considered industry-leading just five years ago.

The report compared legacy banks with best crypto exchanges on indirect risk. Traditional financial institutions typically set lower triggering thresholds for indirect exposure and alert on smaller sums. Many crypto exchanges set substantially higher thresholds; for risk categories such as ransomware, fraud shops, scams and darknet markets, indirect thresholds are often 10 to 20 times higher than for equivalent direct activity.

The firm warned the gap between direct and indirect monitoring creates opportunities for illicit actors and said organizations that reduce that gap can improve regulatory defensibility. Chainalysis also highlighted ongoing cybercrime pressures, estimating roughly $2 billion in crypto thefts tied to North Korean-affiliated groups in 2025.

The report recommends further refinement of trigger sensitivity and dollar detection floors so firms can close remaining gaps and align with regulator and counterparty expectations.