Scorechain CEO on the Travel Rule & the Role of Blockchain Analytics
Recently, 21 Analytics had the opportunity to sit down with Scorechain’s Co-founder and CEO, Pierre Gerard. Pierre, a veteran in the ecosystem, shared his thoughts on the evolution of blockchain analytics, the challenges of compliance for crypto asset service providers (CASPs), and how Scorechain continues to innovate within the rapidly changing regulatory landscapes.
In this interview, we discuss the company’s origins, its role in supporting Travel Rule compliance, and the broader future of crypto regulation and transparency.
1. Discuss the history of Scorechain. What prompted its inception?
Pierre: I define myself as an open-source entrepreneur. Between 2000 and 2014, I co-founded several companies with a shared focus: exploring how open-source technology can enable new business models. I applied this approach in the media, music, and software industries.
In 2014, while looking for a new venture, I became fascinated by blockchain technology, at that time, mainly Bitcoin. From my previous projects, I had learned that disruption often comes from finding the right balance between existing models and innovation.
Regarding blockchain, my view was that Bitcoin would not kill the banks, and banks would not kill Bitcoin. Both sides would need a trusted ecosystem to develop their activities, and regulation and analytics would play a central role. This became the core idea behind the creation of Scorechain.
2. How does Scorechain differentiate itself from its blockchain analytics competitors? From our understanding, there are currently 12 blockchain analytics companies.
Pierre: There are probably more companies out there claiming to offer similar services, but in reality, I’d say we have around five real competitors.
Scorechain is one of the few able to work with both small crypto-native companies and large financial institutions, with strong integration, automation, and solid customer support.
We’re also the only company in this space that’s fully European-based, even though we now have customers in more than 45 countries. Our product is quite flexible and offers advanced automated visualisation features, which help clients adapt it to their own compliance processes. Compared to others, we focus more on the compliance side than on forensics, though that could evolve in the future.
3. In the context of VASPs and Travel Rule compliance, how do Scorechain’s tools assist compliance teams in adhering to the rules?
Pierre: Scorechain’s tools help compliance teams meet Travel Rule and VASP requirements by combining transaction monitoring, counterparty identification, and full API integration within a single platform.
The system automatically analyses blockchain transactions and checks their exposure to illicit activity or sanctioned entities. This enables VASPs to verify whether transfers involve regulated or high-risk actors and document their due diligence accordingly.
While Scorechain is not a Travel Rule messaging provider, it integrates with existing Travel Rule solutions and protocols, allowing teams to validate originator and beneficiary data seamlessly. All analyses and alerts can be accessed through the API or exported into detailed reports, ensuring complete traceability and efficient regulatory compliance.
4. Given the evolution of regulations, how is Scorechain adapting its offering to remain ahead of regulatory shifts?
Pierre: At least time is on our side when it comes to regulation. Most regulatory requirements are discussed and planned long in advance, and we’re sometimes directly involved in the process through exchanges with regulators or authorities.
As a result, the timeline for new regulatory enforcement is usually well known ahead of time, giving us enough time to adapt our product and define its implementation together with our customers.
5. How do you see the intersection of the Travel Rule and blockchain analytics products?
Pierre: The Travel Rule is currently more of an off-chain matter, but on-chain analytics can provide valuable insights for real-time wallet identification, as well as ongoing monitoring, audit and reporting. I see this as part of a broader integration with KYC processes and fiat transaction monitoring. Ultimately, customers need access to a comprehensive 360 solution with a single entry point.
6. From your experience with law enforcement, what are the most challenging illicit-finance trends you are observing right now, and how can they be mitigated?
Pierre: There are so many potential illicit activities, major exchange hacks make the headlines, but more common personal hacks happen every day through phishing, address poisoning, ransomware, and similar schemes. In some cases, an individual’s entire savings can be lost in just a few seconds.
In addition to ongoing education and awareness regarding risk, it is also essential to develop and integrate advanced security tools.
For instance, Scorechain has developed an anti-poisoning feature specifically designed to be integrated into any wallet or payment platform to help prevent suspicious transactions. Furthermore, our proprietary scoring system is currently integrated into various external solutions, either directly or as an external source of information. This integration allows platforms to effectively mitigate risks associated with a transaction's source or destination wallet and make informed decisions on whether to validate the transaction.
7. Blockchain analytics inherently involves large-scale data processing and profiling of wallet behaviour. What privacy or ethical concerns do you consider when building and deploying these tools?
Pierre: This may be another point of differentiation from us [Scorechain] and some of our competitors. We are very careful with personal data and privacy protection. We don’t run honeypots, analyse our customers’ activity, or store personal information such as IP addresses.
As a European company, we also strictly apply GDPR requirements. Our goal is to build trust in blockchain, and we want our customers to trust us as well.
8. If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about the global digital assets regulatory ecosystem to make compliance smoother, what would it be, and why?
Pierre: If I could change one thing, it would be the speed of regulation. We should have had clear rules back in 2020, not in 2025.
And if I can add one more thing, I’d say regulations should really adapt to the size and maturity of companies. Currently, the cost of compliance can be so high that it prevents startups from investing or innovating, which is a problem for the entire industry.
Why 21 Analytics Partnered with Scorechain
Scorechain’s GDPR-compliant approach, with an emphasis on privacy, flexibility, and robust customer support, aligns closely with 21 Analytics’ mission to advance Travel Rule adoption through secure, interoperable, and user-centred solutions. Together, the partnership strengthens the broader push toward a compliant ecosystem that prioritises connectivity, data protection, and a risk-based approach to digital asset oversight.
About Pierre Gerard
Since 2000, Pierre has created several IT and Internet companies with innovative business models. He co-founded jamendo.com, the biggest music library under Creative Commons licences, and managed the company until 2014.
He was also the co-founder of Neofacto, an IT services company active mainly in Luxembourg and France. Pierre holds a Master's degree in IT.
About Scorechain
Based in Luxembourg, Scorechain provides crypto compliance and KYT solutions, with a strong reputation as a leader in blockchain compliance built on the trust of clients in over 45 countries.
Its commitment to excellence goes beyond borders, making it a trusted partner for cryptocurrency businesses, financial institutions, custodial services, and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
Scorechain covers 20 blockchains and all ERC-20 like tokens and stablecoins. All products are available through both UI and API, offering full customisation and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
With its powerful and unique risk-scoring system, Scorechain enables both traditional financial institutions and crypto-native companies to apply a risk-based approach to digital assets and meet evolving regulatory requirements.
