The number of crypto-related enforcement actions in the United States grew notably in 2022, according to a survey released by blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs. Both federal and state regulators broke records for enforcement actions. There were 58 actions carried out by the four main U.S. federal agencies engaged in crypto enforcement in 2022. That number surpassed the previous high of 40 recorded in 2020 and rose 65% over the 38 actions seen in 2021. The agencies – the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office …

The United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Treasury Department, has argued that Binance is linked to the illegal cryptocurrency platform Bitzlato. In an order published on Jan. 18, FinCEN stated that Binance cryptocurrency exchange was among the “top three receiving counterparties” of Bitzlato in terms of Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. According to the authority, Binance was among the biggest counterparties that received Bitcoin from Bitzlato between May 2018 and September 2022. Other such counterparties included Russia-connected darknet market Hydra and the alleged Russia-based Ponzi scheme known as “TheFiniko,” FinCEN noted. On the other hand, FinCEN did …

A United States financial regulator is looking to gain feedback from the banking industry about how decentralized finance (DeFi) may affect the bureau's efforts to stop financial crime. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it is “looking carefully” at DeFi, while the agency’s acting director, Himamauli Das, said the digital asset ecosystem and virtual currencies are a “key priority area” for the agency. Das gave prepared remarks on Dec. 6 at the American Bankers Association’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference. The acting director added the agency is “taking a close look” at its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing …

Mark Alexander Hopkins, also known by the moniker ‘Doctor Bitcoin’ or their handle Rizzn, has claimed that “transacting Bitcoin p2p is a federal crime” after announcing the sentence in their case to social media followers. In a Sunday Twitter thread, Hopkins said that they were facing between 6 to 15 months at a federal correctional institution in Texas following a guilty plea for allegedly operating a crypto business without the necessary licensing. According to Rizzn, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, used a 2019 interpretation of a law — 18 U.S.C. 1960 — originally enacted in 1992 to …

A subsidiary of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange called HBIT Inc has received its Money Services Business (MSB) license from the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Seychelles based Huobi said on Tuesday that the license creates a foundation for it to carry out crypto-related business in the U.S. in the future, as part of its strategic goals of “globalization and compliance.” The exchange is a major player, with more than $1 billion in volume in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Before the great crypto crackdown by Chinese authorities, most Huobi users came from China, but according …

Him Das, the acting director of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, said some of the government bureau’s tools to fight money laundering and terrorism financing may be ill suited for crypto. In a Thursday hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on "Oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network," Das addressed concerns from lawmakers regarding FinCEN’s authority to pursue information on illicit digital asset transactions. Kentucky Representative Andy Barr said many of the current "special measures" FinCEN was authorized to use under Section 311 of the PATRIOT Act were “rarely used,” while Das hinted that digital …

The United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, a bureau of the Treasury Department, has warned financial institutions to consider crypto as a possible means Russia may attempt to use to evade sanctions related to the country’s military action in Ukraine. In a Monday alert, FinCEN reminded U.S.-based financial institutions “with visibility into cryptocurrency” and convertible virtual currency, or CVC, to report any activity that could be considered a potential way for Russia to evade sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies. While the U.S. watchdog said that the Russian government using CVCs to evade large scale sanctions …

As the Department of the Treasury has announced its regulatory agenda for the fiscal year earlier today, many in the web3 space have likely experienced flashbacks to December 2020, when the agency had first proposed to impose know your customer, or KYC, rules on transactions that involve self-custodied crypto wallets. The Treasury’s semiannual agenda and regulatory plan, a document that is meant to inform the public of the department’s ongoing rulemaking activities includes and encourage public feedback, features a clause entitled “Requirements for certain transactions involving convertible virtual currency or digital assets.” Ascribed to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, …

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has agreed to pay up to $100 million to resolve a case from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. In a Tuesday announcement, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had entered a consent order for HDR Global Trading Limited, 100x Holding Limited, ABS Global Trading Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited and HDR Global Services Limited to be charged with illegally operating the BitMEX platform. As part of the settlement with both the CFTC and …

Michele Korver, the first-ever chief digital currency advisor for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), believes crypto assets are just another way of transferring value. Speaking to Law360 on Thursday, the newly appointed Korver said cryptocurrency was "just another means of payment or value transfer that's developed over time, just like any financial technology." Korver offered a cool assessment of the digital asset sector, describing it as a natural evolution. “Financial technologies evolve over time and the innovation of money payments and value transfer will continue,” she said. “The criminal use of the financial ecosystem will always exist too.” She …

Most crypto enthusiasts are less than pleased with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s past approach to crypto. This is not because legitimate businesses oppose regulation but because of the breadth, complexity and uncertainty associated with the current regulatory regime. Even in the context of general discontent, few actions by the SEC have engendered as much widespread criticism as the Dec. 22, 2020 complaint that initiated a civil enforcement action against Ripple Labs and two of its executives. Not everyone opposed the action. For example, Coin Center, a pro-crypto nonprofit advocacy and research group, declined to argue against the …

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. Talk about ending a stellar career at the United States Department of Justice with a bang. The DoJ’s first-ever “crypto czar,” Michele Korver, advised government attorneys, federal agents, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council and the U.S. delegation to the Financial Action Task Force on cryptocurrency matters, and she developed cryptocurrency seizure and forfeiture policy and legislation. While she …