Overview
Merkle Science partnered with the DFINITY Foundation to strengthen compliance on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP). The collaboration equips the ICP ecosystem with behavior-based monitoring, screening, and cross-chain investigations that align with AML and CFT expectations. The goal is to support institution-ready self custody, DeFi, and cross chain activity without compromising decentralization or developer experience.
About the DFINITY Foundation and ICP
The DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports development of the Internet Computer Protocol. ICP is a blockchain network that enables decentralized applications and services with on chain compute and storage.
The Challenge
The ICP ecosystem is growing across DeFi, cross chain activity, and tokenized assets. To engage institutional stakeholders and safeguard users, DFINITY sought to:
- Meet the screening expectations of custodians and partners across wallets, transactions, and assets
- Reduce false positives for regular transactions, especially for Chain Fusion tokens that interact with external systems
- Detect tainted assets and improve risk visibility for ckBTC movements on ICP
- Provide additional data to external parties when required for reviews or compliance
- Help developers identify phishing patterns and maintain user confidence during cross chain interactions
“In reaching a more institutional audience, compliance tools such as Merkle Science are essential,” affirmed Paul Meeusen, VP of Partnerships at DFITNITY. “In addition to offering a top tier crypto asset custody service provider, this segment also expects wallets, transactions and assets to be properly screened.”
The Solution
DFINITY selected Merkle Science to bring standardized, behavior-based compliance to ICP. The integration focuses on:
- Compass for screening and policy automation across wallets, transactions, and assets
- Tracker for forensic analysis, cross chain tracing, and investigations
- Behavior analytics to surface risky patterns early and support ecosystem wide guardrails
- Data workflows that allow DFINITY to share more information with external parties when required
Together, these capabilities create a consistent compliance foundation for ICP while preserving flexibility for developers and third parties.
Impact and Results
The partnership is designed to improve both risk detection and legitimate user flows across ICP:
- Fewer false positives for Chain Fusion tokens
The added compliance layer helps prevent normal transactions from being wrongly flagged by partners or other third parties.
- Stronger safeguards for ckBTC
Risk checks support detection of tainted assets if sent to the network and help prevent regular ckBTC transfers from being mistaken and flagged.
- Greater confidence for institutions
Recognized tooling supports conversations with custodians and opens doors to new partners. One example shared by DFINITY is PrimeVault.
- Improved developer and user experience
Projects, especially in DeFi and cross chain activity, benefit from tools that help identify phishing campaigns and give users confidence that genuine transactions will not be flagged.
How Merkle Science Supports ICP Stakeholders
- Real time screening of wallets, transactions, and assets to align with AML and CFT expectations
- Cross chain tracing to follow funds and identify counterparties during investigations
- Behavior based risk scoring to surface anomalous patterns earlier in project lifecycles
- Data sharing options that help satisfy due diligence needs of external reviewers and partners
“Seeing Merkle Science show up as the compliance tool provider of choice, gives us comfort of being associated with the right partner,” said Meeusen.
By integrating Merkle Science, DFINITY is advancing compliance readiness on ICP and enabling a safer environment for institutional adoption, developer innovation, and everyday users.
