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…
CipherTrace has previously reported on North Korea using cybercrime to avert economic sanctions and raise hard cash to fund its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development. For example, in August 2017, we revealed details of a then unreleased UN research…
SANCTIONS UPDATE: On March 2, 2020, the following two individuals and their associated digital currency addresses have been added to OFAC’s SDN List. The two Chinese nationals were involved in laundering stolen cryptocurrency from a 2018 cryptocurrency exchange hack and…
On January 30, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued the first cryptocurrency-related enforcement action against a U.S. bank—M.Y. Safra Bank (MYSB), which is headquartered in New York City. The enforcement action consisted of a cease and…
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,…
Since its inception in 2015, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) BitLicense has been a source of controversy and debate. Most regulators regard the BitLicense controls as reasonable measures to reduce the inherent risks in transmitting and holding custody…
People use mixers/tumblers as an attempt to preserve privacy when transacting with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by obfuscating their money trail. These services typically do not require Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, and they are primarily used to anonymize fund…
Bitcoin and blockchain technologies are sparking innovation in financial technology (FinTech), but they do have a dark side. Criminals can use bitcoin for illegal activities and attempt to hide their ill-gotten gains, hoping law enforcement will not track the funds…
Treasury working closely with the IRS for examination Some surprising facts regarding the state of the cryptocurrency environment recently came from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Speaking in August 2018 at the Chicago-Kent Block (Legal) Tech…