On July 5, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) completed its second 12-month review of the implementation of its revised Standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers. This review looks at how jurisdictions and the private sector have implemented the revised Standards since the FATF’s first 12-month review. The FATF’s first 12-month…
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On June 30, FinCEN issued its first ever list of priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policy. These Priorities are intended to assist financial institutions in their efforts to meet their AML/CFT obligations. The final revised regulations are set to come out within the next 180 days, as required by…
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Launched in 2015, Hydra is the most prominent Russian darknet market and likely the largest darknet market in the world. Hydra is Russian in origin and serves the following countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Moldova. Hydra became the top Russian darknet market in 2017, after the closure of RAMP…
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On June 25, global anti-money laundering watchdog the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) completed a much anticipated plenary in which delegates finalized work in a number of important regulatory reports and guidance affecting Virtual Asset Service Providers worldwide. While a majority of the work finalized in this plenary won’t be released until the end of…
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In the wake of the Colonial Pipeline and JBS hacks, cybercrime and ransomware attacks continue to be top of mind for global corporations. As consumer purchasing moved to online transactions (digital trade) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of cybercrime also grew. FBI Director Christopher Wray recently compared the bureau’s shift to global ransomware threats…
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Cryptocurrency is revolutionizing traditional finance. Bringing his expertise in cryptocurrency and blockchain security to the Consensus 2021 virtual conference, CipherTrace CEO Dave Jevans was joined by Hailey Lennon (attorney at Anderson Kill, formerly at Silvergate) and Michael Kimani (creator at Cryptobaraza) for a lively discussion on “Crypto’s Thorn in the Flesh: Access to Banking Services.”…
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SANCTIONS UPDATE: On April 15, 2021, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 16 individuals and 16 entities for attempting to undermine and influence the 2020 US presidential election. The sanctions list includes Russian officials, proxies, and intelligence agencies linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA)—a Russian “troll farm”…
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The market volatility created last week as Redditors from r/wallstreetbets banded together to buy stock in GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC), and Bed, Bath, and Beyond (BBBY) through the Robinhood app spilled over into the cryptocurrency world when Dogecoin, a token established in 2013 to satirize the growth of altcoins, caught Reddit’s eye. DOGE has a…
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