The Bittrex platform was under investigation by several US Treasury departments. The institution has finally decided, and the exchange will have to pay more than 53 million dollars in fines. It is accused of having voluntarily given access to its services to users located in countries subject to sanctions.
Bittrex pays two hefty fines
As the Treasury statement explains, Bittrex faced an investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), as well as the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These two departments applied dthe respective fines of $29 and $24 million.
The American exchange platform allegedly violated “multiple sanction programs”. It therefore did not apply sufficient procedures regarding the fight against the financing of terrorism and reporting suspicious activity.
Over the period from March 2014 to December 2017, Bittrex allegedly facilitated transactions for users located in Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. All of these regions are subject to sanctions, and US companies are not supposed to accept local users.
👉 On the same subject – OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash: back on the consequences of this controversial case
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A national security issue?
The director of OFAC, Andrea Gacki, recalls that, according to him, this is of a crucial national security problem :
“When virtual currency firms fail to implement sanctions compliance checks, transductions can threaten the entire nation. »
Same interpretation on the FinCEN sidewhere it is believed that Bittrex could have facilitated the actions of users linked to darknet markets, or ransomware operators.
This returns to a problem often mentioned when it comes to cryptocurrencies. The assets can be used freely, but if the services are based on a company, this one must of course submit to the laws in force in its region of exercise.
👉 Also read – Interview with the creator of the Lightning Network: “Bitcoin must be able to work even when it is deemed illegal”
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Published by Editions Larousse
Source: US Treasury Department
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Journalist at Cryptoast, I fell into the pot of cryptocurrencies a few years ago. I am passionate about the innovative technologies that stem from the blockchain and I like to find the most crispy information to share with you.
Marine Debelloir
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