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Cryptocurrency Economic Sanctions Money Laundering

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - June 2025 #3

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French Bank Launches USD Stablecoin, US Fintech Expands Stablecoin Reach - The crypto assets division of a major French multinational bank and financial services company (Bank) recently announced the launch of its U.S....more

Venable LLP

A Legal Whirlwind Settles: Treasury Lifts Sanctions on Tornado Cash

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On March 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) officially lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, the decentralized cryptocurrency mixer it had blacklisted in August 2022....more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Tornado Cash Whiplash – What’s Next for Sanctions?

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We find ourselves in the midst of a raucous debate among sanctions practitioners about the impact of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision upholding a challenge against the sanctions the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)...more

BakerHostetler

Weekly Blockchain Blog - December 2024 #3

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Digital Asset Companies Achieve Licenses, Launch Stablecoin Products - According to a recent press release, Anchorage Digital, a digital asset platform and infrastructure provider, announced that the New York State...more

BCLP

Fifth Circuit Rules OFAC Cannot Sanction Tornado Cash: Loper Bright Hamstrings OFAC’s Campaign Against Crypto Laundering

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Shortly before Thanksgiving, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) did not have the authority to sanction Tornado Cash, which offers a...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Fifth Circuit Rejects OFAC Designation of Tornado Cash Immutable Smart Contracts

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In a closely watched and complicated case, Van Loon et al. v. Dep’t of the Treasury et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) cannot sanction Tornado...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Citing Loper, Fifth Circuit Declines Agency Deference, Overturns Sanctions Against Cryptocurrency Software

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On November 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury that invalidated economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) on...more

BakerHostetler

Deeper Dive: Understanding the 2023-24 Crypto Threat Landscape

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As the Web3 and digital assets ecosystem continues to grow, hacks, scams and other threats remain a major cause for concern and a potential impediment to broader adoption. Data from various sources indicates that after a year...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Binance’s Paper Compliance Program Crumples Under OFAC Scrutiny in Largest OFAC Settlement in History

On November 21, 2023, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced its largest settlement in history with the virtual currency exchange Binance. This almost-billion dollar settlement is a part of a larger...more

Ankura

Preventing the Use of Cryptocurrencies to Evade Sanctions

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Cryptocurrencies have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their values have plummeted leaving investors out of pocket. Exchanges, lenders, and other entities in the crypto ecosystem have gone bust. Numerous...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Skadden’s 2023 Insights – Five Critical Areas for the Year Ahead

The pandemic’s impact may be subsiding, but businesses are encountering new challenges across the globe, including the potential for an economic retrenchment, rising interest rates, shifting regulatory and litigation...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

UK Government Expands Enforcement Measures To Address Fraud and Money Laundering

On 22 September 2022, the U.K. government introduced the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2022. The new bill is currently navigating its way through the U.K. Parliament and is likely to receive royal assent in...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Kraken Settlement Demonstrates Importance of Sanctions Monitoring for Transactions — Not Just When Onboarding Customers

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The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced (here and here) yesterday that virtual currency exchange Payward, Inc. – better known as Kraken – has agreed to pay $362,158.70 in order to settle its potential civil...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Cryptocurrency Exchange Platform Agrees to Pay over $53 Million for Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Violations

On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced settlements with Bittrex Inc. (Bittrex). The settlements arise from violations of...more

K2 Integrity

The North Korean Crypto Threat

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Executive Summary - The North Korean threat to the crypto ecosystem is the highest form of immediate risk to the crypto-economy driven by a regime that seeks to profit from its misuse to reinforce its regime and fuel all its...more

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

OFAC Designates Tornado Cash as a Sanctioned Entity as Federal Government Continues to Increase Regulation of Decentralized...

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On Aug. 8, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for allegedly helping launder more than $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency over three years.1...more

BakerHostetler

Developer Arrested Following OFAC Sanctions of the Tornado Cash Protocol

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Takeaways - ..The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued the first-ever smart contracts sanction, and its decision to sanction a nonperson may be challenged in court. ..The U.S....more

Latham & Watkins LLP

OFAC Sanctions Decentralized Virtual Currency Mixer

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The US Treasury opens a Pandora’s box of legal issues as it targets a decentralized finance protocol used for both licit and illicit means. On August 8, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

No Foolish Transactions: A Few Guidelines for NFT Marketplace Participants to Mitigate Anti-Money Laundering Risks

The global NFT (non-fungible token) market now is worth dozens of billions of dollars annually. Innovators and early adopters, marketplaces, and sellers, are all eager to join this market but may have questions about how to...more

Orrick - Finance 20/20

FinCEN Urges Financial Institutions to Focus on Detecting Proceeds of Foreign Public Corruption

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The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently issued an advisory urging financial institutions (including certain cryptocurrency businesses) to implement controls to help detect proceeds of foreign public...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

OFAC Designates “Hydra” –  the Largest Darknet Market – and Third Russian Virtual Currency Exchange

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On April 5, 2022 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced sanctions against “the world’s largest and most prominent darknet market, Hydra Market” and Garantex, a virtual...more

K2 Integrity

Sanctions Against Russia: The Week in Review - March 2022 - 2

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The Week in Review delivers the impact and analysis for the public, private, and non-profit sectors from our daily reporting of the evolving global sanctions campaign against Russia. ...more

Orrick - On the Chain

Cryptocurrency and OFAC: Beware of the Sanctions Risks

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A recent federal criminal action shows the depth of the U.S. government’s concern about the use of cryptocurrency (or virtual currency) to violate economic sanctions laws and the lengths to which it will go to charge such...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Cross-Border Investigations Update - September 2019

This issue of Skadden’s semiannual Cross-Border Investigations Update takes a close look at recent cases, regulatory activity and other key developments, including a review of the first year of GDPR enforcement, analysis of...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Your Daily Dose of Financial News

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British Bank Standard Chartered agreed on Tuesday “to pay $1.1 billion to settle allegations by the authorities in the United States and Britain that it violated anti-money laundering laws and economic sanctions.” The...more

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