In a note published Tuesday (11), the US Treasury Department points out that the cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex was fined BRL 276 million, the largest fine ever imposed by the US Foreign Assets Control Agency (OFAC) in the industry.
In more detail, the ad points to two fines. One of them for US$24 million (R$125 million) and another for US$29 million (R$151 million), both for violation of OFAC and FinCEN (Financial Crimes Fighting Network) regulations.
Such fines have links to old cases. According to the investigation, the broker failed to maintain a KYC (Know Your Client) program between 2014 and 2018. Bittrex was one of the largest and best known in the industry at the time.
US fines famous cryptocurrency exchange
Replaced by many customers opting for new exchanges arriving in recent years, Bittrex was already far from its best moment. Now, after receiving a multimillion-dollar fine from the US, his situation is even worse.
According to the US Treasury Department, Bittrex violated anti-money laundering (AML) regulations between 2014 and 2018. During this period, it was possible to use the exchange to buy and sell cryptocurrencies without submitting identity verification documents.
Next, the document points out that Bittrex also violated another regulation called SAR (English acronym for Suspicious Transactions Report) between 2014 and 2017.
Bittrex was unable to prevent people apparently located in the Crimean region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria from using its platform to spend approximately US$263,451,600.13 between March 2014 and December 2014. to handle virtual currencies.”
Himamauli Das, director of FinCEN, points out that the exchange also served as a base for cryptocurrency trading originating from darknet markets and ransomware attacks.
As a result, the US fined Bittrex US$53 million (R$276 million) for non-compliance with the above two regimes. The brokerage has not released a response on its social media.
More brokers should be fined in the future
According to rumors released in August of this year, all cryptocurrency exchanges are under investigation by the US. Therefore, we can expect more fines in the future.
The reason is simple, almost none of them required proof of identity from their customers before 2018. Even if they have met these standards, the case points to the US being ready to rethink the industry’s “Wild West” years.
Source: Live Coins
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
