The founder and operator of some of the first "mixing" services in crypto will have to cough up $60 million to United States regulators, even as he faces continued criminal charges. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, announced on Monday a $60 million fine against Larry Dean Harmon, the man behind Helix and Coin Ninja. Harmon was arrested in February for operating a stable of tumblers, or mixers, that Washington, D.C. prosecutors allege constitute unregistered money services businesses. Those charges against him say he laundered over $300 million in Bitcoin. According to today's announcement, "FinCEN’s investigation has …

Two offices of the United States Department of the Treasury have issued advisories on ransomware payouts, which they say pose a threat to national security. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, reminded cryptocurrency processing companies of their duty to file suspicious activity reports when they have a reason to suspect that their services are being engaged for such payouts to sanctioned individuals: “Among these entities are digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) companies and cyber insurance companies (CICs). Some DFIR companies and CICs, as well as some MSBs that offer CVCs [convertible virtual currency], facilitate ransomware payments to cybercriminals, …

Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev told Cointelegraph that he believes the information revealed during the recent FinCen leak vindicates the crypto industry. According to the leak, the world’s leading financial institutions cleared over $2 trillion “suspicious” transactions — and Deutsche Bank alone cleared over $1.3 trillion of that amount. Trenchev said: “The first thing I'm feeling is vindication because like everyone has been saying for years, all that Bitcoin and money laundering in the same breath. We've been hearing that from regulators, from politicians, from bankers, from just about anyone. And it turns out that the number one choice for money …

Leaked documents from the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) imply that the agency’s revamped efforts to identify illicit transactions and money laundering may not be sufficient. But on this occasion, the institutions described as being at fault are not crypto exchanges, but some of the world’s best-known banks. BuzzFeed News reported on Sept. 20 that it received thousands of documents detailing “suspicious activity reports,” or SARs, from banks to FinCEN between 2000 and 2017. According to the news outlet, the reports “offer an unprecedented view of global financial corruption, the banks enabling it, and the government agencies that watch …

The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced it will be changing the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) rules within the financial sector. The announcement stated that FinCen will be seeking public feedback on forthcoming regulatory proposals intended to modernize and strengthen rules governing the reporting and monitoring requirements of financial institutions. The new policies seek to address “the evolving threats of illicit finance, such as money laundering, terrorist financing and related crimes” which suggests that crypto firms and exchanges will be firmly in the sights of the coming regulatory changes. They will also impact the compliance …

The current state of blockchain innovation in the United States is a tale of two asset classes. On one hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s reluctance to embrace or endorse blockchain-based securities has ground the innovation in that sector to a crawl. On the other hand, regulators in the banking, money transmission and commodities spaces have demonstrated a willingness to work with blockchain companies to permit the offering of assets and asset classes in those spaces. As a result, non-securities blockchain-based assets and businesses have proliferated in recent years. Years after the initial coin offering craze, the SEC and the …

U.S. government agency, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, recently put out a notice mentioning the risks and symptoms of internet-related nefarious activities occurring since COVID-19 arose. "Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic," FinCEN said in a July 30 statement. The agency added: "This advisory contains descriptions of COVID-19-related malicious cyber activity and scams, associated financial red flag indicators, and information on reporting suspicious activity." FinCEN's statement follows a massive Twitter hack weeks ago FinCEN's advisory comes after a large-scale Twitter breach affected many top accounts, including Joe Biden, Elon …

There is no doubt that digital currencies provide benefits for an individual, a company and an institution by facilitating better access to financial products and services. Money laundering costs the global economy between $800 billion and $2 trillion annually, according to a United Nations report. This amounts to 2%–5% of the global gross domestic product. Today, more than 90% of money laundering still goes undetected. Developments in technology, however, have resulted in newer and faster tools. Criminals use these advancements to continue laundering money. At the same time, government authorities and fintech companies leverage technology to identify transaction attributes and …

The very first Bitcoin (BTC) ATM came to the United States in 2014 to Austin, Texas. This historic event occurred quickly after Canada pioneered the idea in 2013, and the excitement and demand for such ATMs have soared across the globe ever since. There are currently over 8,000 BTC ATMs in more than 70 countries worldwide. In fact, the highest number of Bitcoin ATMs was recorded in the U.S. in 2020, and as of April 2020, approximately 81% of global ATMs were concentrated in North America. Two types of Bitcoin ATMs exist, with one being more complex than the other. …

The COVID-19 pandemic has crushed businesses, crippling life all across the world. It is costing darknet drug traffickers millions as well because their methods of moving drugs and funds have been compromised during the lockdown, according to a blog post by Chainalysis. “Darknet market revenue has fallen much more than we’d expect following Bitcoin’s recent major price drop,” Chainalysis reported, noting that supply problems for Mexican drug cartels and dealers in China’s Hubei province could be “hampering darknet market vendors’ ability to do business.” “Perhaps darknet market customers aren’t buying as many drugs given the public health crisis,” Chainalysis wrote, …

In a May 27 interview sponsored by Chainalysis, Director of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Kenneth Blanco was adamant that the regulator is not the enemy. “This technology belongs to all of us” FinCEN is the governing body that enforces the Bank Secrecy Act in the U.S., requiring financial institutions to provide know-your-customer (KYC) information. It’s a contentious topic within crypto, so it is no surprise that Blanco was careful to portray FinCEN as a part of the environment. Blanco lamented “that we’re allowing a technology that could be so beneficial to be hijacked by people,” continuing …

Following a big-time update to its white paper in mid-April, the Libra Association has over the past couple of weeks made a string of striking new additions to its core governance team, including appointing Robert Werner as its general counsel and Stuart Levey as its CEO. Before joining the Libra Association, Werner served as the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, as well as holding a number of top leadership positions at financial firms such as HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Similarly, Levey most recently was the chief legal officer for HSBC Holdings. In addition, …