The Justice Insiders Podcast - The Ever-Expanding Net: Corporate Compliance in an Era of Increasing Trade Sanctions and Restrictions
Understanding the Additional Risks When Making a Ransomware Payment
WorldSmart: The Extraordinary Sanctions Against Russia - What Happens Next?
BSA, OFAC, KYC, and CIP – What do they mean to me? [More with McGlinchey, Ep. 29]
Compliance Perspectives: Sanctions, Data and Vetting Third Parties
FINCast Ep. 19 - The DPRK Sanctions Program
Episode 118 -- Update on OFAC Enforcement and Lessons Learned
On 21 March 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) removed Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer, from its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List),...more
We find ourselves in the midst of a raucous debate among sanctions practitioners about the impact of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision upholding a challenge against the sanctions the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)...more
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
Shortly before Thanksgiving, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) did not have the authority to sanction Tornado Cash, which offers a...more
On November 26, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that “immutable” smart contracts are not “property” for purposes of regulation by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control...more
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
The court ruled OFAC overstepped its authority in sanctioning Tornado Cash, holding that its smart contracts are not “property” under the governing statutes....more
On November 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) exceeded its authority by adding an entity that pools and anonymizes crypto transactions to OFAC’s...more
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
You've been hit by a ransomware attack, and a cybercriminal group is demanding a cryptocurrency payment in exchange for your data's safe return. Should you pay? Deciding whether to pay a ransom is an internal business...more
On November 26, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against a decentralized cryptocurrency mixing service (a...more
New Crypto Products Announced by Financial Services Firms, Exchanges, DEXs - A major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange recently announced that it has integrated a major mobile payments application into its Onramp tool to enable...more
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
On November 26, 2024, in a three-judge panel decision, Van Loon v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Court) reversed a Texas district court and held that immutable...more
U.S. Companies Announce Crypto Cashback and NFT Ticketing Initiatives - According to recent reports, a major U.S. credit card company has partnered with Swoo, a mobile wallet blending traditional and crypto payments, to...more
New Crypto Indices Launch; Crypto Firms Announce Product Integrations - According to a recent press release, SIX, a major Swiss stock exchange and global financial information provider, has launched new SIX Reference Rate...more
Crypto Firms Continue to Launch New Initiatives Across Markets - In a recent press release, digital asset infrastructure firm Fireblocks announced its acquisition of BlockFold, “a smart contract development and...more
In two prior posts, this blog tracked the ongoing intrigue of how the various branches of the United States government interact with blockchain and cryptocurrency organizations. We discussed the Wyoming law allowing...more
Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, recently suffered two major setbacks in federal regulatory efforts to block its use and prosecute its founders. First, a federal district court threw out a lawsuit challenging the...more
Federal District Court Enters Default Judgment Based on NFT Service of Process - A federal district court judge in Florida entered a $2.2 million default judgment against a defendant on whom the judge previously authorized...more
Crypto Firms Announce New Product Launches in Custody, Stablecoins, Wallets - According to a recent press release, Prometheum Capital has received the first-ever approval from the Financial Industry Regulation Authority...more
ETH Staking Data Published, USDC Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol Launches - New data reflects that the recent amount of staking withdrawals on Ethereum has been balanced by a roughly equal amount of deposits. According to...more
On April 5, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) in the U.S. Department of the Treasury named Genesis Market to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDN List”). Genesis Market is...more
Cryptocurrencies have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their values have plummeted leaving investors out of pocket. Exchanges, lenders, and other entities in the crypto ecosystem have gone bust. Numerous...more
White House Addresses Crypto Risks; Blockchain Firm Wins Air Force Contract - The White House issued a statement last week briefly outlining the Biden administration’s road map to mitigate the risks of cryptocurrencies,...more