Stefan Thomas is two failed password attempts away from losing the private keys to $220 million worth of bitcoin forever. This is because Thomas holds the private keys to his bitcoin wallet in an IronKey. "The World’s Most Secure Flash…
Cryptocurrency, digital asset, convertible virtual currency… there seems to be an endless list of terms for the same concept. If that wasn’t enough, a cryptocurrency exchange can also be referred to as a Virtual Asset Service Provider(VASP), Virtual Asset Entity,…
FinCEN Takes a Measured Approach to Money Laundering Risks Posed by Unhosted CVC Wallets On December 18, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a proposed rule change for virtual currency transactions with unhosted wallets. Under the proposed change, banks…
November 25, 2020 Via Email to: [email protected] Re: FinCEN Docket Number FINCEN–2020– 0002; RIN number 1506–AB41 CipherTrace welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”)’s proposed rule change regarding the “Threshold for the Requirement To Collect,…
This blog is an excerpt from the upcoming CipherTrace 2020 Cryptocurrency Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Report In October 2020 FinCEN released a proposed rule change, lowering the threshold for travel rule information sharing and retention from $3,000 to $250 for…
On Monday, September 14, 2020, FATF released a report on Virtual Assets Red Flag Indicators. This report is meant to assist reporting entities, including financial institutions (FIs), designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), and VASPs. The red flag indicators are…
Existing FinCEN regulations clearly state that it is the responsibility of all financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity concerning how criminals and other bad actors exploit CVCs for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit financing purposes. These…
As more mainstream consumer and institutional investors embrace cryptocurrencies, it becomes increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for traditional financial institutions to avoid entanglements with the crypto economy. For example, banks face significant counter-party transaction risks from customers interacting with high-risk…
Two key regulatory bodies recently rocked the foundation of the crypto economy with new guidance that will have major impacts on exchanges and other virtual asset service providers (VASPs). The global anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force…
SANCTIONS UPDATE: On August 21, 2019, the following individuals and their associated digital currency addresses have been added to OFAC's SDN List under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. YAN, Xiaobing (Chinese Traditional: 顏曉兵; Chinese Simplified: 颜晓兵) (a.k.a. "YAN, Steven"; a.k.a. "ZHOU,…