$29.2 million is the fine amount Bittrex had to pay for violating US financial sanctions between March 2014 and December 2017. Normally, the Washington-based cryptocurrency exchange had to hand over $35 billion at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. But the OFAC was lenient, to the point of removing 3 zeros from the amount to be paid.
Bittrex accused of sanctions violations and non-compliance
” #crypto exchange Bittrex has been accused of sanctions violations and failing to “implement effective sanctions compliance checks” between 2014 and 2017. »
According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Netwrok (FinCEN), a branch of the US Treasury, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Bittrex allegedly committed the following wrongdoings:
- violation of several US sanctions, including those prohibiting local companies from doing business with individuals operating in Syria, Cuba, Iran and Crimea;
- lack of ” effective compliance checks » relating to its sanctions;
- non-compliance with the banking secrecy law.
This accusation relates to ” 116,421 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs “, according to US Treasury regulators. However, these breaches of the law observed between March 2014 and December 2017 were at the origin of 263.45 million dollars of illicit crypto transactions, underlines Bitcoin.com
Concerned about the security of the nation, Andrea Gacki, director of OFAC, specified that:
” When virtual currency companies fail to implement effective sanctions compliance controls, including screening customers located in sanctioned jurisdictions, they can become a vehicle for illicit actors who threaten the national security of states. -United. »
FinCEN also clarified that Bittrex’s AML program failed to identify risks.
” Bittrex also failed to file SARs on a significant number of transactions involving sanctioned jurisdictions, including transactions that were suspicious beyond the fact that they involved a sanctioned jurisdiction. “, we had specified.
The American cryptocurrency exchange complies
” Bittrex has agreed to remit $29,280,829.20 for its willful violations of the BSA’s AML program and SAR requirements. FinCEN to credit payment of $24,280,829.20 as part of Bittrex’s settlement to settle potential liability with OFAC says the OFAC and FinCEN report.
In the eyes of these regulators, the Bittrex crypto exchange is white as snow after deciding the payment of the amount due. He’s not like his headstrong peers, if you take into account Ripple, the US SEC’s perennial adversary.
It should be mentioned that the American cryptocurrency exchange platform should have paid the sum of 35 billion dollars for committing such a blunder. Indeed, the company did not prevent the use of its services to people located in the restricted areas. Consequence: there was exploitation of 1,730 accounts having processed 116,421 crypto transactions during the said period.
22 transactions from the sanctioned venues were declared suspicious on the Bittrex platform on occasion. They represented the equivalent of 1 million dollars in cryptocurrency. What to expose unnecessarily the US financial system to other threatening actors “. This is what Himamauli Das, acting director of FinCen, had clarified.
Fortunately, OFAC took into account the existence of extenuating circumstances in the case of Bittrex. Indeed, it constituted a small and new company ” during this period. The office also took into account its readiness to cooperate substantially with the regulator.
At the moment, FinCEN is looking into several cases similar to Bittrex. Bitmex, Tornado Cash or even Kraken have already been accused by the regulator. The reason: stories violation of sanctions through crypto transactions.
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