US Government Fines Bitgo for Allowing Users to Bypass Sanctions With Cryptoc...
The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has fined Bitgo for failing to prevent users in sanctioned countries from using its crypto wallet service. The agency says Bitgo processed 183 cryptocurrency transactions that were “apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.” US Treasury Alleges Bitgo Allows Users to Bypass Sanctions The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Wednesday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has entered into a $98,830 settlement with Bitgo “for 183 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.” Bitgo offers....
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The settlement repeats the Treasury's message that crypto companies will need to know their customers. The U.S. Treasury has settled with BitGo over charges that it facilitated users in sanctioned areas to transact using its crypto wallet services between 2015 and 2019.BitGo, an institutional crypto custodian service and wallet operator, did not do due diligence in blocking wallet users based in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, said the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Controls in a Dec. 30 announcement. OFAC said of BitGo:"BitGo failed to exercise due caution or care for its....
BitPay apparently screened merchants but not customers. BitPay will have to pay the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control over half a million dollars for crypto services to sanctioned regions. In a Feb. 18 announcement of the settlement, OFAC said that BitPay had facilitated "approximately $129,000 worth of digital currency-related transactions with BitPay’s merchant customers" by users from Crimea, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Sudan and Syria — effectively the full range of geographical sanctions that OFAC has in place. OFAC repeated that crypto firms need to align themselves with....
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed its first criminal complaint against an American who allegedly used cryptocurrency to circumvent U.S. sanctions. “The payments platform advertised its services as designed to evade U.S. sanctions, including through purportedly untraceable virtual currency transactions.”
DOJ Charges US Citizen in Crypto Sanctions Evasion Case
The U.S. Justice Department has filed its first criminal complaint against a U.S. citizen who allegedly tried to evade American sanctions using cryptocurrency, according to a judicial opinion document....
Bitgo failed to stop people in Cuba, Iran and Syria, among other sanctioned places, from using its non-custodial wallet service, the U.S. said.
It has been argued that Russia may avoid Western sanctions for invading Ukraine by using cryptocurrencies. However, is it viable? The small scale of the cryptocurrency market restricts Russia’s capacity to use cryptocurrencies to bypass international sanctions, according to credit rating agency Moody’s. Analysts predict that sanctions will prompt the Russian Federation to create alternatives to […]