Pillar Taxonomy Guide
Key Insights
- Detailed guide to the AML, Markets, and Data Engineering pillars with scope criteria and examples.
How AcaciaFund organizes research into three thematic pillars, with criteria for classification and examples.
AML — Anti-Money Laundering
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Color | Amber (#d97706) |
| Icon | Shield |
| Scope | Financial crime detection, regulatory compliance, sanctions enforcement, crypto regulation, cross-border financial intelligence |
| Key Sources | FinCEN, FATF, OFAC, EU Commission, national regulators, compliance technology vendors |
| Example Tags | aml, compliance, regtech, financial-crime, sanctions, kyc, transaction-monitoring |
Markets — Markets & Industry
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Color | Green (#22c55e) |
| Icon | Chart |
| Scope | Semiconductor manufacturing, supply chain dynamics, AI hardware investment, EV battery production, quantum computing VC, industrial policy |
| Key Sources | Industry reports, earnings calls, trade publications, patent filings, venture capital data, government industrial policy documents |
| Example Tags | markets, semiconductors, supply-chain, manufacturing, ev, batteries, venture-capital, deep-tech |
Data Engineering — Data Engineering & Infrastructure
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Color | Indigo (#6366f1) |
| Icon | Gears |
| Scope | Data pipeline orchestration (Dagster, Airflow, Prefect), data quality engineering (Great Expectations, Soda), streaming platforms (Kafka, Flink), lakehouse architectures (Iceberg, Delta Lake), analytics engineering (dbt, SQLMesh) |
| Key Sources | Dagster blog, dbt developer blog, Apache project docs, Data Engineering Weekly, Confluent blog, vendor engineering blogs |
| Example Tags | data-engineering, dataops, pipeline, orchestration, dbt, dagster, kafka, data-quality, lakehouse, streaming |
Cross-Pillar Topics
Some topics span multiple pillars. Notable cross-pillar themes include:
- Crypto & Blockchain — AML (regulatory enforcement), Markets (investment, mining economics), Data Engineering (blockchain data pipelines, on-chain analytics infrastructure)
- AI Regulation — AML (compliance automation), Markets (AI industry investment), Data Engineering (ML pipeline infrastructure, feature stores, model serving)
- Supply Chain Intelligence — AML (trade-based money laundering), Markets (semiconductor/EV supply chains), Data Engineering (supply chain data integration, real-time tracking pipelines)
Last updated: 2026-06-08
Article Metadata
Further Reading
Databricks Blog
Lakehouse, Spark, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog — engineering blog
Apache Kafka
Kafka documentation, KIPs, and ecosystem updates
Apache Flink
Flink documentation and release notes
Apache Iceberg
Iceberg table format — specs, REST catalog, performance
dbt Blog
dbt Labs engineering blog — analytics engineering, Semantic Layer
Dagster Blog
Dagster orchestration — software-defined assets, IO managers
Feynman Concept Cards
Master each concept: read the ELI5, explore analogies, work examples, and teach it back.
Sanctions Screening is a concept in sanctions. In simple terms, Sanctions Screening covers sanctions compliance in Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the sanctions compliance in compliance domain. Also known as: OFAC screening, sanctions l
Analogy
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FATF Recommendations is a concept in regulations. In simple terms, FATF Recommendations covers regulatory frameworks in Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the regulatory frameworks in compliance domain. Also known as: FATF 40 Recommendations.
Analogy
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Bank Secrecy Act is a concept in regulations. In simple terms, Bank Secrecy Act covers regulatory frameworks in Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the regulatory frameworks in compliance domain. Also known as: BSA, Currency and Foreign Tr
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Regulatory Technology is a concept in regtech. In simple terms, Regulatory Technology covers regulatory technology for Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the regulatory technology for compliance domain. Also known as: RegTech. Related conc
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MiCA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation is a concept in crypto aml. In simple terms, MiCA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation covers crypto compliance within Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the crypto compliance within compliance domain. Also known as: Mi
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Global Sanctions Regimes is a concept in sanctions. In simple terms, Global Sanctions Regimes covers sanctions compliance in Compliance. This compliance concept addresses key topics in the sanctions compliance in compliance domain. Also known as: OFAC, EU sanctions, UN
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Market Microstructure is a concept in foundations. In simple terms, Market Microstructure covers foundational knowledge in Markets. This markets concept addresses key topics in the foundational knowledge in markets domain. Also known as: microstructure. Related concep
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Research is a concept in specialized. In simple terms, A concept related to research
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