Bittrex Crypto Exchange Fined for US Sanction Evasion
Source: The US Department of the Treasury The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed a fine of about $24 million on crypto exchange Bittrex which also had to sign a $29 million settlement with the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The fines are related to the exchange&rsquo ;s violations of anti-money laundering regulations and sanctions on the residents of certain countries and territories. “As a result of deficiencies related to Bittrex’s sanctions compliance procedures, Bittrex failed to prevent persons apparently located in the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria from using its platform to engage in approximately $263,451,600.13 worth of virtual currency-related transactions between March 2014 and December 2017,” the department said in a statement . The applicable sanctions programs prohibit US persons from involvement in transactions with these...