Nested Services / Omnibus Wallets

Core idea

Deposits into a smaller, often-unregistered platform that itself holds customer funds inside one pooled wallet at a larger exchange, hiding individual activity behind the larger exchange’s address.

When to use

A ‘wallet’ that turns out to be an exchange’s own hot wallet servicing thousands of unrelated users.

Avoid when

Don’t assume the address owner is the suspect; an omnibus or hot wallet aggregates thousands of unrelated users behind one address.

Example

Tracing ends at what looks like a single wallet, but it is a large exchange’s pooled hot wallet used by a nested service’s many customers.

Related

On-Chain Laundering Pattern Catalogue, Off-Chain Behavioral Red-Flag Checklist