Why a deposit address is screened
Most operators score the address you send from and check it against sanctions lists before or as a deposit is credited. The score is about the address, not about you — but it can hold a clean deposit, and it is a gate that confirmation depth does not clear.
Block 01Why screening exists
Two forces drive it. The first is regulatory: operators in many jurisdictions are obliged to screen the source of funds against sanctions lists and to avoid handling the proceeds of crime, and crypto makes that obligation concrete because the ledger records where money came from. The second is commercial: fraud, stolen funds and disputed transfers are expensive, so operators use analytics to price and refuse that risk. Screening is therefore part compliance, part self-defence, and it applies to the sending address rather than to your identity as such.
Block 02How an address gets a score
Analytics firms build a picture of the chain by grouping addresses they believe share an owner — a technique called clustering — and by labelling addresses associated with exchanges, mixers, thefts, sanctioned entities and other known activity. Your sending address inherits a score from that picture. It can be marked because you received funds from a flagged address, because you used a service that is itself flagged, or because a counterparty once used a mixer. The score is attached to the route the money took, not to any fact about your intent.
| Signal | Why it flags | Who it reflects |
|---|---|---|
| Tainted inflow | Funds traceable to theft or sanctions | An earlier counterparty, not necessarily you |
| Mixer exposure | Mixing reduces traceability | A service you or a counterparty used |
| Cluster risk | Addresses grouped by shared ownership | Everyone in the cluster |
| Sanctions link | Match against a sanctions list | A named entity in the chain |
Block 03What a screening hold looks like
A flagged deposit usually does not vanish and is rarely refused outright. It is held for review: the funds are visible on the ledger, the balance is not credited, and the operator asks for information — often an identity document, the source of the funds or an explanation of the route. The deposit can sit in this state after it has passed the confirmation threshold, which is why a deposit that looks confirmed can still be absent from the balance. A hold is resolved by the operator, not by the network.
A hold is a second gate
Depth and screening are independent. A deposit can be buried under a hundred blocks and still be held, because the question screening asks is where the money came from, not how deep it is.
Block 04What a hold is not
Screening is not a judgement that you did anything wrong, and it is not a withdrawal delay by another name. It is not applied to every deposit — most pass automatically — and it is not aimed at small amounts specifically; the trigger is the route, not the size. It is also not the same as the confirmation threshold: a hold can apply to a deposit that has reached full depth, and depth cannot clear it. Keeping the two separate prevents a lot of wrong waiting.
A held deposit means the operator suspects me.
The score attaches to the route the money took, which may involve addresses you never chose.
Block 05What you can control
You cannot see the score before you send, and you do not control the history of every address you have received from. What you can do is reduce accidental exposure: send from your own custody rather than a shared or borrowed address, avoid receiving from services you do not understand, and keep a record of where your funds came from so a review can be answered with documents rather than guesses. None of this guarantees a clean score, because clustering reaches further than any single user can see.
- Use your own address A shared or borrowed address imports its owner's history along with yours.
- Know your route A short record of where the funds came from answers a review faster.
- Expect the ask A hold often triggers an identity check; having documents ready shortens it.
- Do not re-send Sending the same deposit again while one is held rarely helps and can compound the review.
Block 06A screening checklist
Screening worries shrink when the two gates are held apart.
- Is it depth or screening? A deposit below the threshold is early; one above it and uncredited is likely held.
- What is being asked? A request for documents points at a review, not a network problem.
- Which route? The hold usually reflects the source of the funds, not the amount.
- Who resolves it? The operator resolves a hold; waiting on the chain will not.
Confirmations, in detail
Depth is the gate screening is not. The confirmations page covers what the threshold does and does not clear.
Affiliate disclosure and risk warning
Every affiliate link on this page and in the header is a sponsored link to a partner operator, and we may be paid if you open an account through it, at no extra cost to you. That link pays us; it does not make a transfer safer, it does not improve any decision, and it is never a recommendation to play or to move money. Nothing on this page is legal, financial or investment advice, and nothing here is a view on any coin, token or network. 18+ only. Gambling is a real risk of real loss, and a crypto transfer is a real transfer: it settles on a public ledger where there is no chargeback, no reversal and usually no way to recover funds sent to a wrong address or the wrong network. A deposit you make is not a bet, but it becomes money at risk the moment it is credited, and the price of the asset you hold can fall — sometimes to nothing — while it sits there. The mechanics explained here — how many confirmations a deposit needs, what a chain reorganisation can undo, why an address is screened, which fee belongs to the network and which to the operator, why a memo field matters and why finality is a probability rather than a guarantee — belong to the networks and the operators, not to any suggestion that you should use them. The rules that govern these products — whether crypto is accepted at all, which assets and networks are supported, whether the operator is licensed, what is owed on winnings, how deposits are screened and whether any of it is lawful for you — differ between countries, states and provinces, they change, and they depend on facts about you that a website cannot know. Nothing on this page is advice, a prediction or a valuation of any asset. Never stake money you cannot afford to lose, never borrow to play, and never chase losses with a larger stake. Gambling can cause serious financial harm, including debt and damage to relationships and mental health. Free and confidential support is available in most countries through national gambling-harm helplines, for players and for the people around them.