Bitcoin.com News reported this week that leading crypto exchange Binance will settle with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for $4.3 billion, related to breaching anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations. The well-known face of the exchange, and former CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has stepped down as part of the plea deal. In other news,…
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F2Pool, a Bitcoin mining pool, has admitted to filtering transactions coming from Bitcoin addresses flagged by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). After the situation was discovered by 0xB10C, a Bitcoin developer, F2pool co-founder Chun Wang acknowledged that his pool was indeed applying this filter, announcing it would drop the censorship until there was…
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The Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) under the Treasury has released an updated version of the specially designated nationals (SDN) list, featuring multiple alleged fentanyl traffickers from China along with their associated cryptocurrency addresses. These highlighted crypto addresses are connected to decentralized networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron. OFAC Targets Chinese Fentanyl Traffickers;…
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The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an Ethereum wallet used by the Sinaloa Cartel to launder money from fentanyl sales in the U.S. Mario Alberto Jimenez Castro, an accused money launderer for the cartel’s Los Chapitos faction, allegedly directed the use of cryptocurrency and wire transfers to pay cartel leaders…
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A recent ruling by a U.S. judge declared that Tornado Cash holds the legal status of a “person.” This development came on the heels of a previous verdict in June, which recognized the decentralized autonomous organization Ooki DAO in a similar manner. U.S. Judiciary Designates Tornado Cash as ‘Person’ in OFAC Case In a legal…
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The crypto industry advocacy group has placed its support behind Coin Center and its lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury over its Tornado Cash sanctions. The Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund have become the latest industry advocates to file their support of Coin Center’s lawsuit against the United States Treasury over its “unlawful” sanctions…
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Analysts have criticized the new ‘de-risking’ strategy that the U.S. is currently using against China, explained by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in April, clarifying that national security was over economic costs. These de-risking policies might affect bilateral trade, which fell by 11.2% to $217.9 billion during the first four months of 2023. ‘De-Risking’…
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Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, started his tour of Latin America on April 17, landing first in Brasilia to hold high-level talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Lavrov insisted that Russia was building a “multipolar” world, while Vieira rejected the unilateral sanctions enacted against Russia.…
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The government of China protested the enactment of sanctions on a series of national companies by the U.S., barring them from doing business with U.S.-based entities for allegedly collaborating with Russia. China’s Commerce Ministry criticized the move, saying it is a “typical form of long-arm jurisdiction,” which damages the rights and interests of these companies.…
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about the dangers that sanctions based on the U.S. dollar might pose for the hegemony of the currency in international markets. According to Yellen, the government tries to use sanctions “judiciously,” as they can create a desire to find alternatives to the U.S. dollar. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen Talks…
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