Cryptocurrencies have long been seen as the Wild West of money transfers, but few online payment and money transfer platforms have been as blatant in appealing for illegal cash as this one. The platform was likely based in North Korea, according to those within the platform. According to court records, it was built using a US front company that facilitates the purchase of domain names.
The platform, which was designed to sidestep financial bans designed to cripple pariah countries, handled more than $10 million worth of bitcoin that was transferred between the United States and a country that was on the sanctions list.
The opinion was written by a judge and is likely to have been sealed because of an arrest. It marks a change in the way US law enforcement handles cryptocurrencies.
Issue One: virtual currency is nottraceable? Wrong. Is virtual currency not subject to sanctions? Faruqui concludes that the two SNL skits parodying John McLaughlin were wrong.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and governmental affairs at TRM Labs, says that for some time they have heard a story that cryptocurrencies could be used for sanctions evasion.
It is a warning to those trying to evade sanctions that law enforcement is coming for them, and that the decision puts the exchanges on notice.
Cryptocurrencies have been seen as a safe haven for criminal gangs and enterprises looking to move money. The Silk Road and the AlphaBays attracted criminal enterprises in the early days of cryptocurrencies. A former deputy general counsel at the US Treasury who also served in the Justice Department has prosecuted several cases.
The underpinning of cryptocurrencies was building a database of evidence for prosecutors.
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