On October 11, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
(FinCEN) announced settlements of over $24 million and $29
million, respectively, with Bittrex, Inc., a crypto trading
platform based in Bellevue, Washington, for violations of the Bank
Secrecy Act. The settlements represent the largest virtual currency
enforcement action to date.
Findings of Failure to Maintain Effective Anti-Money Laundering
Program
Investigations by OFAC and FinCEN found that Bittrex willfully
violated the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing
regulations from February 2014 through December 2018 by failing to
maintain an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program. As
alleged in the FinCEN consent order, Bittrex failed to appropriately address
risks associated with anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies and other
services it offered, exposing the U.S. financial systems to threat
actors, including ransomware
