Sanctions
U.S. sanctions 6 people, 2 companies that laundered $800 million in crypto for North Korea
The Treasury Department said North Korea infiltrated IT workers into U.S. businesses and channeled their wages back to the country to fund weapons of mass destruction programs.
Sanctions evasions using crypto increased by 700% in 2025: Chainalysis
Russia, Iran and North Korea expanded their use of stablecoins, hacked funds and state-linked exchanges to move more than $100 billion onchain to evade international sanctions.
Crypto’s biggest exchange fights back against allegations of moving billions of Iran-linked money
The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Fortune all reported that investigators had been let go after identifying sanctions-violating transactions.
Millions in crypto funded tools to exploit U.S. software, Treasury says in new sanctions
An Australian national was said to sell cyber tools designed for the U.S. government and its allies to a Russian company known as Operation Zero.
Elliptic flags Russia-linked crypto platforms’ ongoing sanctions evasion
Bitpapa, Garantex and ABCeX were among the cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Russian-tied transactions circumventing Western evasions.
U.S. imposes sanctions on crypto exchanges tied to Iran for the first time
The exchanges were accused of facilitating transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and are linked to an Iranian businessman convicted of embezzlement.
Criminal use of crypto spikes after years of steady decline, TRM report says
While the increasingly professional bad guys' crypto rocketed to $158 billion in 2025, it's still a decreasing share of overall digital assets activity.
Iran’s central bank bought $507 million USDT to underpin rial, report finds
Elliptic traced more than $500 million in USDT tied to Iran’s central bank, suggesting the stablecoin was used to manage foreign-exchange pressures and build a “sanctions-proof” alternative to dollar banking.
Iran accepts cryptocurrency as payment for advanced weapons
Prospective customers could purchase weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, according to a government website.
U.S. Sanctions North Korean Bankers Over Crypto Laundering Tied to Cyberattacks
The Treasury Department sanctioned eight individuals and two entities accused of using crypto and shell companies to funnel millions into Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
