A report issued by a United Nations panel of experts has concluded that cyber crypto heists have provided 50% of the foreign currency income for North Korea since 2017. The report indicated that North Korean actors have been linked to 17 theft and hack events involving over $750 million in 2023 alone, and details several…
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Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: El Salvador to deepen its Bitcoin commitment if President Bukele gets reelected, Argentine President Javier Milei drops crypto tax matters from Omnibus Bill, and Venezuela gets hit by gold sanctions. El Salvador to…
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has revoked the license of Minerven, the Venezuela-owned gold company, for commercializing gold in international markets. The sanctions on Minerven, which were eased in October, will be applied again on February 13, with oil and gas sanctions reported to return in April. OFAC Winds Down Venezuelan Gold Operations…
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U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the illegal use of cryptocurrency assets by bad actors. Commenting on a report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), Warren declared that “rogue nations are using crypto to dodge sanctions and undermine our national security,” calling to establish increased money laundering rules on these assets. U.S. Senator Elizabeth…
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Florida Senator Marco Rubio expressed his worries about the increasing influence of BRICS, the international group, in the world’s economic system. According to Rubio, if the group keeps expanding, it will be a valid alternative to the current system, allowing nations to sway away from the U.S. dollar and unilateral sanctions. Senator Marco Rubio Alerts…
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The U.S. deputy secretary of the Treasury has revealed that the Treasury Department has asked Congress for more tools and authorities “to go after illicit actors in the digital asset space.” Moreover, he stressed: “We need to update our illicit finance authorities to match the challenges we face today, including those presented by the evolving…
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Russian crypto holders have reportedly used simple workarounds to evade sanctions – and trade on overseas crypto exchanges. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, Western leaders have imposed sanctions on most leading Russian banks. Account holders at these banks, thus, are effectively blocked from using fiat on/off ramps at major international crypto exchanges.…
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The six individuals, supported by crypto exchange Coinbase, have taken a case involving the U.S. Treasury sanctioning Tornado Cash to federal appellate court. A group of Tornado Cash users has filed an appeal in federal court following a ruling upholding the United States Treasury Department’s decision to add the cryptocurrency mixer to its list of…
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Source: Adobe Stock/ sveta The United States and its allies are set to escalate sanctions against the militant group Hamas in the coming days. According to the U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, more actions will be taken in the coming days and weeks to cut funding channels to Hamas, Reuters reported. Earlier, US Senator…
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U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo says crypto is not the vast majority of the ways terrorist groups are funded, noting that these organizations “continued to use the traditional banking system.” His statements followed media reports claiming that Hamas raised a large sum of money in cryptocurrency. Crypto Not Major Funding Source for Terrorist Groups…
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