OFAC


Videos

Poloniex Agrees to $7.6M Settlement With OFAC

Poloniex LLC, a U.S. entity previously affiliated with the Poloniex crypto exchange, will remit $7.59 million to settle sanctions violation allegations with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). STORM Partners Managing Partner Sheraz Ahmed reacts to this development, saying, "A lot of the exchanges are going to be looking back at what they are doing and this is an opportunity for them to come clean."

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Videos

Crypto Exchange Poloniex Agrees to $7.6M Fee to Settle Sanctions Violation Charges

Poloniex LLC, a U.S. entity previously affiliated with the Poloniex crypto exchange, will remit $7.59 million to settle sanctions violation allegations with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the sanctions watchdog said Monday. CoinDesk Global Policy and Regulation Managing Editor Nikhilesh De discusses the latest in crypto regulation. 

Recent Videos

Policy

Crypto Exchange Poloniex Agrees to $7.6M Fee to Settle Sanctions Violation Charges

Poloniex allegedly did not maintain proper know-your-customer practices between 2014 and 2019.

(Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Policy

U.S. Sanctions 3 North Koreans for Supporting Hacking Group Known for Crypto Thefts

The three were engaged in crypto activities themselves, and the U.S. Treasury Department says they were tied to the networks of DPRK entities laundering stolen crypto or moving illicit funds for that country.

U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Opinion

How OFAC’s Tornado Cash Sanctions Violate U.S. Citizens’ Constitutional Rights

In filing a “friend of the court” brief, the Blockchain Association argues that financial privacy is fundamental – even in the digital realm.

A illustrative example of a Tornado. (NOAA)

Tech

Latest Ethereum Blocks Suggest Validators Are Reversing Censorship

Noncensoring relays such as Agnostic and ultra sound are delivering more data blocks on Ethereum than Flashbots, the one-time king of MEV-delivering relays.

(Creative Commons, modified by CoinDesk)

Tech

Tornado Cash Fork, Privacy Pools, Deployed on Optimism Testnet

Privacy Pools uses zero-knowledge proofs to prove that funds in anonymous transactions are not linked to criminal activity, such as North Korea’s $625 million hack on Axie Infinity.

(Israel Palacio/Unsplash)

Finance

Crypto Crime Hit All-Time High of $20.6B in 2022: Chainalysis

Kim Grauer, the blockchain sleuthing firm's head of research, told CoinDesk TV sanctioned activity and hacking were the driving forces behind the rise in illicit transaction volumes last year.

(Adam Levine/CoinDesk)

Tech

Fewer Than Half of New Ethereum Blocks Over the Past 24 Hours Are OFAC Compliant

For the first time since October, fewer than 50% of new blocks over a 24-hour period are OFAC compliant, partially thanks to more noncensoring options that make up a larger share of the blockspace market.

(Creative Commons, modificada por CoinDesk)

Consensus Magazine

Bitzlato Co-Founder Released After Arrest in Moscow, Pledges Relaunch of Seized Exchange

“I could launch the exchange from my apartment," Anton Shkurenko said of the exchange multinational authorities shut down in January. The Bitzlato team has retained most of its users’ funds and could resume operations quickly, he said.

The U.S. Treasury Department is seeking public comment on the role of cryptocurrencies in illicit finance, and its own response to this issue. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)