News & Analysis as of

Cryptocurrency Virtual Currency Economic Sanctions

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - December 2024 #3

BakerHostetler on

Digital Asset Companies Achieve Licenses, Launch Stablecoin Products - According to a recent press release, Anchorage Digital, a digital asset platform and infrastructure provider, announced that the New York State...more

Hogan Lovells

U.S. Appeals Court limits OFAC’s sanctions authority in cryptocurrency mixer case

Hogan Lovells on

The Fifth Circuit held that Tornado Cash, open-source computer code known as an immutable “smart contract”, is not “property” and thus cannot be subject to blocking sanctions pursuant to IEEPA and EO 13694....more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

5th Circuit reverses and remands cryptocurrency software case stating OFAC exceeded its authority

On November 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and remanded a decision by the district court regarding the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) designation of a virtual currency mixer software...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Fifth Circuit Rejects OFAC Designation of Tornado Cash Immutable Smart Contracts

Ballard Spahr LLP on

In a closely watched and complicated case, Van Loon et al. v. Dep’t of the Treasury et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) cannot sanction Tornado...more

White & Case LLP

The Shadow Financial System

White & Case LLP on

The concept of the shadow financial system rose to international prominence in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In an interview with a Pakistani newspaper a month later, Osama bin Laden stated that Al Qaeda were...more

American Conference Institute (ACI)

[Event] 24th National Forum on Prepaid Accounts Compliance - April 8th, New York, NY

The 24th National Forum on Prepaid Accounts Compliance will address the latest developments impacting the prepaid industry and provide answers to the most pressing questions and challenges being faced by practitioners in this...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Binance’s Paper Compliance Program Crumples Under OFAC Scrutiny in Largest OFAC Settlement in History

On November 21, 2023, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its largest settlement in history with the virtual currency exchange Binance. This almost-billion dollar settlement is a part of a larger...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

OFAC sanctions actors facilitating DPRK virtual currency laundering

On April 24, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions, pursuant to Executive Orders 13722 and 13382, against three individuals for providing material support to the Democratic...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

OFAC Settles With Kraken for $362,158: Maximum Penalty Avoided

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On November 28, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $362,158.70 settlement with Payward, Inc. d/b/a Kraken. The Delaware-incorporated virtual currency exchange allegedly...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Kraken Settlement Demonstrates Importance of Sanctions Monitoring for Transactions — Not Just When Onboarding Customers

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced (here and here) yesterday that virtual currency exchange Payward, Inc. – better known as Kraken – has agreed to pay $362,158.70 in order to settle its potential civil...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Crypto Company Comes Under OFAC Scrutiny

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 11, 2022, announced a more than $24.28 million settlement with Bittrex Inc. (Bittrex), a Bellevue, Washington-based company that offers...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

OFAC and FinCEN Settle with Bittrex in Regulators’ First Parallel Virtual Currency Enforcement Actions

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced on October 11 simultaneous settlements with Bittrex, Inc. (“Bittrex”), a virtual currency exchange and hosted...more

K2 Integrity

The North Korean Crypto Threat

K2 Integrity on

Executive Summary - The North Korean threat to the crypto ecosystem is the highest form of immediate risk to the crypto-economy driven by a regime that seeks to profit from its misuse to reinforce its regime and fuel all its...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Civil Complaint Challenges OFAC’s Tornado Cash Sanctions

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Last month, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned Tornado Cash, a virtual currency “mixer” operating on the Ethereum blockchain which allegedly has been used to launder the virtual currency equivalent of...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

5 Things to Know About OFAC Sanctioning Crypto Mixer Tornado Cash

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned the popular decentralized virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash on August 8, 2022, continuing the U.S. government’s efforts to target...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The Crypto Enthusiast and The Regulator: What OFAC is, Could Be, and Should Be Doing to Regulate CryptoCurrencies

On May 6, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a cryptocurrency mixer, Blender.io, as a Specially Designated National (SDN). That sanction follows a series of enforcements and...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

No Foolish Transactions: A Few Guidelines for NFT Marketplace Participants to Mitigate Anti-Money Laundering Risks

The global NFT (non-fungible token) market now is worth dozens of billions of dollars annually. Innovators and early adopters, marketplaces, and sellers, are all eager to join this market but may have questions about how to...more

Mintz

DOJ issues charges in first criminal cryptocurrency sanctions case

Mintz on

Last Friday, a federal Magistrate Judge in Washington, D.C. wrote an opinion, in a still sealed case, explaining why he approved a DOJ criminal complaint against an American citizen accused of transmitting more than $10...more

BakerHostetler

Banks Expand Digital Asset Offerings; Crypto Market Actors Critique SEC Proposal; New OFAC Crypto Sanctions; Agencies Issue...

BakerHostetler on

This week Anchorage Digital, a digital asset platform and infrastructure provider that is also the first federally chartered cryptocurrency bank, announced that it has added custody support for 11 new digital assets....more

The Volkov Law Group

OFAC Focuses on Cybercrime by Sanctioning the Hydra Darknet Market and GARANTEX Cryptocurrency Exchange

The Volkov Law Group on

Continuing with both its crackdown on cybercriminals and illicit digital marketplaces, along with its continued economic pressure on the Russian Federation, OFAC has sanctioned two entities that fit both criteria.  On April...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

OFAC Designates “Hydra” –  the Largest Darknet Market – and Third Russian Virtual Currency Exchange

Ballard Spahr LLP on

On April 5, 2022 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced sanctions against “the world’s largest and most prominent darknet market, Hydra Market” and Garantex, a virtual...more

American Conference Institute (ACI)

[Event] 16th Annual Flagship Conference on U.S. Economic Sanctions Enforcement and Compliance - May 5th - 6th, Washington, DC

ACI’s Annual Flagship Conference on Economic Sanctions Enforcement and Compliance is widely regarded as the premier conference designed for those working in global sanctions compliance, internal audits and investigations,...more

Perkins Coie

Blockchain Week in Review - March 2022 #2

Perkins Coie on

Zelenskyy Signs Virtual Assets Bill Into Law, Legalizing Crypto in Ukraine - On March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the Law on Virtual Assets. According to a statement by the Ministry of Digital...more

K&L Gates LLP

Cryptocurrency – Russia's Sanctions Loophole?

K&L Gates LLP on

Regulators across the globe have this week stepped up their messaging in relation to sanctions on cryptocurrency. This comes in the wake of pleas from Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation via Twitter on Sunday for...more

Perkins Coie

Blockchain Week in Review - March 2022

Perkins Coie on

...Treasury Releases National Risk Assessments - The U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued the 2022 National Risk Assessments (NRAs) on (1) money laundering, (2) terrorist financing, and (3) proliferation...more

51 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 3

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide