Worldbox Business Intelligence has launched a dataset of company profiles for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), aiming to help banks, financial technology companies, and compliance teams verify the legal identities and ownership structures of businesses operating in the cryptocurrency sector.
The dataset covers companies that provide crypto-related services, including exchanges, custodians, wallet providers and digital asset transfer services. It is designed to help financial institutions establish which legal entities operate these services, who controls them, and whether their corporate records support their regulatory status.
The new dataset combines company identity, ownership and control information with original corporate documents, addressing a due diligence gap that blockchain transaction analysis alone cannot resolve.
Worldbox Business Intelligence, which maintains offices in Zurich, Singapore and other locations, provides international business intelligence and investigative services. Its offerings include financial information, ultimate beneficial ownership research, company profiles, credit assessments and due diligence reports.
Crypto compliance faces persistent ownership challenges
Virtual asset service providers fall within the anti-money laundering standards established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Banks and fintech companies working with these businesses therefore need to understand the corporate entities behind their crypto-related activities.
Blockchain analytics tools can trace digital asset movements and identify wallet addresses associated with transactions. However, these tools do not necessarily establish the legal identity, directors or ultimate beneficial owners of the company operating a particular service.
That information is generally maintained through corporate registries, regulatory filings and other official business documents, which may be distributed across multiple jurisdictions.
FATF’s July 2026 update on virtual assets highlighted continuing difficulties in identifying the individuals and legal entities conducting VASP activities. Offshore providers remain a particular challenge, while implementation of the Travel Rule, which requires relevant information about transaction originators and beneficiaries to accompany transfers between service providers, remains uneven.
FATF has also warned of increasingly complex and interconnected crypto-enabled illicit activity, including scams linked to organized crime. These developments increase the importance of establishing reliable information about the businesses involved in digital asset transactions.
Licensing does not replace corporate due diligence
Regulatory authorization provides one way to assess whether a VASP can legally operate in a particular market. However, checking a license alone may not establish the complete ownership structure or confirm that the contracting entity matches the licensed business.
In Singapore, crypto service providers are regulated as digital payment token service providers. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has reported that 37 companies were licensed out of nearly 300 applications, with most remaining applications rejected or withdrawn.
In the European Union, the European Securities and Markets Authority advises customers to verify whether crypto-asset service providers are authorized under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Providers without the required authorization must wind down their EU activities.
Corporate ownership records, directors and parent-company structures are maintained separately from licensing information. Companies operating internationally may also have corporate entities registered in several jurisdictions, complicating efforts to establish who ultimately controls a service.
Four areas covered by the VASP dataset
Worldbox said its profiles are designed to address four central requirements in counterparty due diligence.
The first is legal entity verification, ensuring that a company’s contractual name matches its official registration and any relevant license. This is important when commercial brands, trading names, and affiliated companies operate under similar identities.
The second is ownership and control, including ultimate beneficial owners, directors and parent companies. These relationships can extend across multiple countries, including offshore jurisdictions.
The third involves access to supporting documentation, such as incorporation certificates, articles of association and official registry extracts. Such records can help compliance officers, auditors and regulators independently verify corporate information.
The fourth is monitoring changes over time. Ownership, management and regulatory status can change after a company has passed its initial onboarding checks, making periodic reviews necessary.
The profiles draw on Worldbox’s database of more than 500 million entities across over 240 jurisdictions, using information sourced directly from company registries and supported by original corporate documents.
Corporate intelligence complements blockchain analytics
Worldbox chief executive Adrian Ashurst identified the distinction between tracing digital assets and identifying the businesses behind transactions as a central motivation for the dataset. The company intends to provide compliance teams with verifiable corporate records to complement blockchain analysis.
The launch reflects a broader need for financial institutions to combine on-chain transaction monitoring with traditional business intelligence. As crypto companies operate across borders, access to reliable ownership and registration information could help institutions evaluate counterparties, document compliance decisions, and identify potential risks.
The effectiveness of the dataset will depend on the coverage, accuracy, and timeliness of its underlying corporate records, particularly in jurisdictions where ownership disclosures are limited or difficult to verify.
