How TrustToken Protects the Reputation of the 'World's Most Trusted Stablecoins'

TrustToken is best known for TrueCurrencies, a group of US dollar-backed stablecoins (which includes TUSD, the first regulated stablecoin to be issued in the U.S.), and more recently for its launch of TrueFi.io, a decentralized, unsecured lending protocol with over $400 million funded with a zero default rate and just over $1 billion total value locked in the protocol.

A user of TRM since 2019, TrustToken, like a growing number of cryptocurrency businesses, wanted to meet their regulatory obligations and ensure that illicit actors do not utilize TrueCurrencies.

But for TrustToken, there's more to managing risk than meeting regulatory obligations, according to Teresa Anaya, BSA/AML Officer at TrustToken. “The reputation of the TrueCurrencies was — and remains paramount to — the trust our users place in utilizing them. It's really a core aspect of our brand, our value proposition to customers, and our differentiation in the market.”

Where TRM comes in

"Proactive detection of fraud or other links to illicit activity is a core component of maintaining that trust," says Anaya, who's team is responsible for monitoring the addresses of those participating in TrueCurrencies, TUSD and other services.

Monitoring pseudonymous addresses for indicators of illicit activity enables the team to quickly identify, flag and report any activity that falls outside TrustToken’s risk threshold. Addresses are reviewed on an ongoing basis, including at onboarding, while transacting and when exiting the system back into fiat.

"We rely heavily on TRM for their understanding of what suspicious activity looks like on the blockchain, which in some cases is quite different to the red flags we're used to seeing in fiat transaction monitoring," says Anaya.

As part of TrustToken's enhanced due diligence process, compliance analysts also use the TRM platform to investigate alerts — reviewing an address’ risk profile and transaction history and using TRM's proprietary graphing tools to help visualize transaction flows when necessary. All analysis is saved in the investigation file, making it easy for TrustToken to a law enforcement request.

What makes it work

For Anaya and team, having a strong working relationship with their risk intelligence provider is key. "We're building a revolutionary platform in a rapidly-moving space, and that can result in new or changing risk management needs," says Anaya.

"TRM doesn't just document our requests; their commitment to actually hearing and responding to our needs really makes them unique among the providers in this space."