Two Crypto Exchanges Face US Sanctions For Money Laundering
Recent media reports have shed light on the US sanctions that were imposed on two crypto exchanges. In addition, the government also issued an indictment against a Russian national who was involved in money laundering crimes. In this article we’ll dive into the details of the sanctions and determine what these exchanges are, the details of their activities, and more. Let’s begin!
US Sanctions On Crypto Exchanges Uncovered
The US sanctions have recently been placed on crypto exchanges, Cryptex and PM2BTC, for alleged facilitation pertaining to money laundering via cybercrime.
The coordinated takedown was part of a larger crackdown by authorities pursuing Operation Endgame and witnessed facilitation from the Netherlands Police and the Dutch Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD).
As a result of these sanctions, websites belonging to both the crypto exchanges have been taken down and replaced with a law enforcement seizure banner. It’s worth mentioning here that these sanctions have led to the recovery of cryptocurrencies worth $7.8 million.
Providing further insight into the US sanctions, Bradley T. Smith, the acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, has stated that:
“The United States and our international partners remain resolute in our commitment to prevent cybercrime facilitators like PM2BTC and Cryptex from operating with impunity. Treasury, in close coordination with our allies and partners, will continue to use all tools and authorities to disrupt the networks that seek to leverage the virtual assets ecosystem to facilitate their illicit activities.”
Crypto Exchanges’ Illicit Activities
PM2BTC (“btc2pm[.]me”), one of the two exchanges facing the US sanctions, is said to have facilitated the laundering of convertible virtual currency (CVC) associated with ransomware and other threat actors in Russia. This crypto exchange is known to be operational since 2014 and has direct CVC to Ruble exchange services.
Despite such services, the exchange does not adhere to any Anti-Money Laundering (AML) or Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements as per the federal law of the US. Providing further insights pertaining to the exchange, the US Department of Treasury has stated that:
“PM2BTC facilitates a substantially greater proportion of transactions with apparent links to money laundering activity in connection with Russian illicit finance as compared to 99 percent of other virtual asset service providers. PM2BTC employs an unusual obfuscation that inhibits attribution of transactions to illicit activity and actors.”
Cryptex (“Cryptex[.]net”), on the other hand, has been accused of promoting virtual currency services directly to cybercriminals. This crypto exchange facing US sanctions has claimed complete anonymity when registering for an account. However, media reports claim that this exchange has received $51.2 million in ransomware attack proceeds.
Apart from these two exchanges, 44-year-old Russian national, Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov (aka UAPS or TALEON), has been charged for an active role in cyber money laundering for the past two decades. The individual also faces charges for providing services to both the exchanges facing US sanctions and to drug traffickers and online crime groups.
Conclusion
The US sanctions on Cryptex and PM2BTC mark a significant step in the global fight against cybercrime and money laundering. By targeting these exchanges and their operators, law enforcement aims to disrupt illicit activities that exploit the cryptocurrency ecosystem allowing them to international collaboration in cybercrime prevention.
Given the rapid advancement in the cyber threat landscape, both organization and individual users now must implement proactive cybersecurity solutions as it can help ensure protection by mitigating risk.
The sources for this piece include articles in The Hacker News and Bleeping Computer.
The post Two Crypto Exchanges Face US Sanctions For Money Laundering appeared first on TuxCare.
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from TuxCare authored by Wajahat Raja. Read the original post at: https://tuxcare.com/blog/two-crypto-exchanges-face-us-sanctions-for-money-laundering/
