On November 18, 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published Interpretive Letter #1179. This is the fourth interpretive letter in a series (1170, 1172, &1173) that discusses if it is permissible for National Banks and Federal…
On August 18, hackers stole a little over $90M* in more than 69 different cryptocurrencies and tokens from Japan-based exchange Liquid Global. Liquid’s teams have yet to release a postmortem detailing the attack vector used by the hacker. While about…
TLDR: On the morning of August 10, the US Senate passed the now infamous Infrastructure Bill (HR 3684) which, in its current state, suggests implementing tighter rules on any business that handles cryptocurrency such as reporting gains and expanding reporting…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
On March 23, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) updated its Know Your Customer (KYC) guidance on money services businesses (MSBs) and foreign money services businesses (FMSBs). FINTRAC classifies Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) as MSBs, meaning they too must comply…
During her confirmation hearing on January 19, Janet Yellen, President Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of the Treasury, stated "many" cryptocurrencies are “a particular concern” when it comes to terrorism and criminal financing. This statement was in response to a question on how the US can curtail…