Enterprise Blockchain Vendor Evaluation Criteria: Chainalysis Playbook, TRM Labs vs Chainalysis Blockchain Intelligence, and Chainalysis Reactor Demo

A buyer’s playbook for selecting blockchain intelligence vendors in 2026—what to measure, what to see in a live demo, and how Chainalysis and TRM Labs stack up on data coverage, workflows, and deployment. Includes a concrete, step‑by‑step Reactor demo script and an RFP checklist you can copy/paste.

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Why you need a rigorous playbook now

Coverage, attribution quality, and workflow UX are changing fast. In 2025 alone, TRM Labs added 20+ chains and now covers 50+ for tracing while screening spans 105+ blockchains; Chainalysis added new L1/L2s like Kaia, Soneium, and Plasma with automatic token support wired into KYT and Reactor. That pace makes “last year’s eval notes” obsolete for 2026 procurement. (trmlabs.com)

This guide distills what actually separates platforms in production—so you can run a defensible vendor process and avoid buyer’s remorse.

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The 7Block Labs enterprise vendor evaluation playbook

Use these criteria in RFPs and live demos. For each, we include “what good looks like” and a question to ask the vendor.

1. Chain and asset coverage (depth and freshness)

• What good looks like:
  • Tracing across 25–30+ major chains with automated interpretation of swaps/bridges/mixers; 40M+ assets resolved; 300+ bridges and DEXs recognized; graphs update in seconds. (chainalysis.com)
  • Screening/monitoring at scale: 400+ networks and 50M+ tokens for KYT‑class alerting. (chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Show me a live trace that crosses an L2→DEX→bridge→CEX in under 30 seconds, with human‑readable steps and no manual decoding.”

1. Attribution transparency and defensibility

• What good looks like:
  • Entity labels with sources and confidence, plus auditability (“glass box” approach) so evidence holds up in court. (platform.softwareone.com)
• Ask: “Open any labeled counterparty and show the provenance of that label, confidence score, and how I export this for disclosure.”

1. Sanctions and risk controls where you operate (DeFi and Web apps)

• What good looks like:
  • Free sanctions screening tools for UIs and smart contracts (on‑chain oracle + REST API) that you can drop in day one. (auth-developers.chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Integrate your sanctions API into our test dApp now and blocklist an OFAC SDN in a test transaction.”

1. Speed from signal to case

• What good looks like:
  • Real‑time KYT alerts in seconds; automatic case creation and escalation to investigations with continuity of entities/notes. (chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Trigger an alert on your sandbox and escalate it into a full investigation with one click. Keep all context.”

1. Advanced investigation depth

• What good looks like:
  • AI/heuristics to surface likely wallet app usage and suspected illicit behavior on previously unknown addresses (millions of addresses categorized), plus demixing and timeline or storyline views for smart‑contract flows. (chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Start from an unlabeled address and show how signals narrow hypotheses, then flip to timeline view to explain DeFi interactions.”

1. Incident response and special workflows

• What good looks like:
  • Seed‑phrase analysis/wallet‑scan capabilities for seizure workflows; 24/7 expert assist or services backstopping complex cases. (chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Demonstrate a seed analysis/wallet scan with chain‑of‑custody outputs I can attach to an affidavit.”

1. Deployment, security, and governance

• What good looks like:
  • FedRAMP‑authorized or compliant environments; on‑prem/regional residency options; role‑based access and audit logs. (chainalysis.com)
• Ask: “Show where my tenant would reside, how access is logged, and your FedRAMP posture.”

1. Ecosystem momentum and integrations

• What good looks like:
  • Proof of plug‑and‑play integrations (KYC/KYB stacks, fraud tools), and adoption by major platforms (e.g., 1inch screens via TRM). (compilot.ai)
• Ask: “Enable your integration in our compliance hub via API key live, and pass a wallet through for a risk decision.”

1. Training, enablement, and certifications

• What good looks like:
  • On‑demand academies/certifications with temporary licenses for hands‑on learning (CRC, CYC). (chainalysistraining.zendesk.com)
• Ask: “Provide a 30‑60‑90‑day enablement plan, including cert targets and live case shadowing.”

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TRM Labs vs Chainalysis: what actually differs

Below is how each platform positions and what to validate live.

• Coverage and pace

  • TRM: as of Oct 2025, tracing on 50+ chains and screening across 105+; added 23 chains in 2025 (e.g., Hyperliquid/HyperEVM, zkSync, Sui, Hedera, XDC). (trmlabs.com)
  • Chainalysis: Reactor traces across 27+ chains, 40M+ assets with 325M+ swaps and 300+ bridges/DEXs; KYT supports 400+ networks and 50M+ tokens; recently integrated Kaia, Soneium, and Plasma with automatic token support. (chainalysis.com)

• Investigations and graphing depth

  • TRM Forensics emphasizes “glass box” attribution (source and confidence exposed), Signatures for pattern detection (e.g., peeling, layering), transaction fingerprinting, seed analysis, and multi‑route pathfinding; strong case management. (platform.softwareone.com)
  • Chainalysis Reactor focuses on intuitive graphing with automated interpretation of bridges/mixers/swaps; Signals adds early leads on unlabeled wallets; Wallet Scan enables seed workflows; performance tuned for large graphs. (chainalysis.com)

• Compliance and monitoring stack

  • TRM Wallet Screening offers 150+ configurations for ownership, counterparty, and indirect risks; TRM Transaction Monitoring provides flexible rules, daily rescreening, audit logs, and FedRAMP‑optioned hosting. (trmlabs.com)
  • Chainalysis KYT delivers real‑time alerting, custom rules and groups, entity lists, plus regulatory alignment; free sanctions API/oracle for developer‑friendly controls. (chainalysis.com)

• Deployment and security

  • Both support high‑assurance environments; Chainalysis explicitly notes FedRAMP‑authorized options for Reactor; TRM advertises a FedRAMP‑compliant cloud environment option. Validate specifics and your agency’s ATO path. (chainalysis.com)

• Ecosystem traction

  • TRM data is embedded in DeFi front‑ends like 1inch; TRM highlights broad public‑private operations (e.g., Chainabuse reports pipeline). (help.1inch.com)
  • Chainalysis anchors many landmark investigations and public takedowns; customer stories show measurable AML impact (e.g., BitMEX, Ramp). (chainalysis.com)

Tip: Use market “mindshare” only as a directional signal; PeerSpot data in Jan 2026 shows Chainalysis at ~38% and TRM at ~34% mindshare—what matters is fit to your risk surface and workflows. (peerspot.com)

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Practical scenarios to test in live evaluations

1. Cross‑chain theft to cash‑out

• What to see:
  • Start from a victim address on Chain A → hop through an L2, swap to a stablecoin, bridge to Chain B, then partial cash‑out to a CEX deposit. The tool should auto‑interpret each hop, display counterparties, and surface suspected services. (chainalysis.com)
• Stretch goal:
  • Use Signals‑like intelligence to flag a previously unknown address as a likely wallet app or suspected scam mule to prioritize leads. (chainalysis.com)

1. Sanctions control in DeFi

• What to see:
  • Block a sanctioned wallet attempting to interact with a smart contract using a free sanctions oracle/API in a demo environment. Confirm on‑chain revert and UI warning. (auth-developers.chainalysis.com)

1. Seed seizure workflow

• What to see:
  • Run a wallet/seed scan to enumerate associated wallets, balances, and exposure; export an artifact suitable for chain‑of‑custody and affidavit exhibits. Compare “Wallet Scan” and “Seed Analysis” outputs. (chainalysis.com)

1. Token ecosystem monitoring (issuer use case)

• What to see:
  • Trend views of holders, risk categories, and automated freeze workflows designed for token issuers—not exchange‑style KYT. (chainalysis.com)

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Chainalysis Reactor demo: a 15‑minute scripted walkthrough

Use this script to make vendor demos concrete and comparable across sessions.

1. Open a new case and set context

• Create case “Bera‑Bridge‑Heist‑Jan2026”; add a victim address and a suspicious TXID. Confirm autosave, role‑based visibility, and case notes.

1. Initial triage

• Paste the primary address; Reactor should plot inbound/outbound flows and auto‑interpret recent DEX swaps and bridge events in plain English. Toggle to a timeline/storyline view to explain contract calls. (chainalysis.com)

1. Follow the money across chains

• Click “Follow” on the stolen asset; show path collapsing across 2–3 swaps and a bridge, then land on a CEX deposit or OTC desk. Confirm the platform recognizes 300+ bridges/DEXs and 325M+ swap edges. (chainalysis.com)

1. Enrich entities and evaluate risk

• Open the destination entity’s profile; view label source and confidence. Add an annotation and a custom tag. Pivot to Signals for an unlabeled counterparty to see suspected activity (e.g., likely mixer or wallet app). (chainalysis.com)

1. Escalate from compliance alert to investigation

• Simulate a KYT alert firing (policy breach). Escalate the alert into Reactor with full context preserved (entities, risk score, notes). (chainalysis.com)

1. Add off‑chain evidence and prepare briefing

• Attach exchange correspondence, subpoena IDs, and comms artifacts to the graph. Export a clean graph view and narrative suitable for legal review.

1. Seed/wallet scan (optional)

• Demonstrate a seed‑phrase scan to enumerate holdings and exposure, then produce a seizure‑ready summary. (chainalysis.com)

1. Close‑out and audit trail

• Show immutable audit logs of actions, user roles, and data exports; confirm residency controls or FedRAMP‑authorized environment availability. (chainalysis.com)

What to score: time‑to‑first‑lead, number of manual steps avoided, interpretability of DeFi traces, export quality, and ease of collaboration.

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Emerging best practices we see winning in 2026

• Drop‑in sanctions screening for builders

  • Use free sanctions APIs/oracles in both web UIs and dApps to prevent obvious violations without a full vendor rollout. Tie this into your feature flag system for fast rollbacks. (auth-developers.chainalysis.com)

• Treat “coverage” as two KPIs: tracing depth vs screening breadth

  • Tracing depth needs rich DeFi interpretation across 25–30+ chains; screening breadth can run into hundreds or thousands of networks/tokens where you simply need signal for allow/block. Validate both. (chainalysis.com)

• Require attribution transparency in investigations

  • Insist on viewable sources and confidence for labels to avoid “black box” testimony risk. TRM explicitly exposes source/confidence; Chainalysis publishes extensive court‑tested intelligence—ask to see both in your data of interest. (platform.softwareone.com)

• Mandate seed‑to‑seizure workflows

  • Make wallet/seed scanning and custody‑ready exports part of your runbooks to reduce cycle time from discovery to restraint. (chainalysis.com)

• Build shared playbooks across compliance and investigations

  • Ensure KYT alerts escalate into full graphs with continuity—and you can annotate, tag, and export narratives without rework. (chainalysis.com)

• Monitor your token like a platform monitors users

  • Token issuers should run ecosystem‑level dashboards (holder risk, exposure by category) and configure freeze playbooks. (chainalysis.com)

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Copy/paste RFP checklist

Ask vendors to respond briefly and demo live:

• Coverage and freshness
  • List blockchains with full tracing and DeFi interpretation; list screening networks/tokens and update cadence. Provide three 2025–2026 chain additions and go‑live dates. (chainalysis.com)
• Attribution transparency
  • Show one labeled service with source and confidence; attach an exportable evidence pack. (platform.softwareone.com)
• Sanctions controls
  • Provide code snippets for a free sanctions API/oracle integration; validate on a testnet. (auth-developers.chainalysis.com)
• KYT to investigation handoff
  • Trigger a real‑time alert and escalate to an investigation graph with preserved entities, notes, and risk context. (chainalysis.com)
• Advanced demixing and obfuscation handling
  • Demonstrate tracing through at least one mixer, one bridge, and two swaps with human‑readable interpretations. (chainalysis.com)
• Seed/Wallet scan
  • Produce a seizure‑ready report from a seed or wallet file, showing balances, exposure, and linked wallets. (chainalysis.com)
• Deployment and compliance
  • Confirm FedRAMP status/route, regional residency, audit logging, and role‑based access controls. (chainalysis.com)
• Integrations and ecosystem
  • Show plug‑in to your compliance hub or case management; provide two production references (e.g., 1inch using TRM for screening). (help.1inch.com)
• Enablement
  • Provide a 90‑day training plan with CRC/CYC or equivalent certs and temporary licenses for hands‑on learning. (chainalysistraining.zendesk.com)

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When to lean TRM vs Chainalysis

• Choose TRM Labs when:

  • You prize “glass box” attribution and configurable screening with 150+ risk options; you need broad screening breadth across emerging chains and rapid productized integrations in existing compliance hubs. (platform.softwareone.com)

• Choose Chainalysis when:

  • You need courtroom‑proven investigations at scale with automated interpretation of complex DeFi traces, Signals for early leads on unlabeled addresses, wallet/seed scan for seizure, and you want free sanctions tools for builders day one. (chainalysis.com)

Reality check: many enterprises deploy both—TRM to enforce front‑door screening and TRM/Chainalysis or Chainalysis‑only to run deep‑dive forensics and presentable graphs for regulators and courts. Validate your top‑3 workflows first.

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Final take

Don’t evaluate blockchain intelligence with a features checklist alone—force live, time‑boxed demos against your risk surface. Insist on transparent attribution, cross‑chain traceability with human‑readable DeFi steps, sanctions controls you can ship this sprint, and seed‑to‑seizure workflows. If a vendor can’t show it live in under 15 minutes on your test case, keep looking.

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