• Treasury delays cold wallet monitoring
    Will Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen follow through on predecsessor Steven Mnuchin's cold wallet monitoring plan? (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
    Regulation

    Good and bad: Treasury delays cold wallet monitoring rule

    The delay gives crypto more time to fight it, but shows that regulators plan to press ahead in the new administration

    January 26, 2021 /

    Proposed on Dec. 18, the regulation would require exchanges to collect personal know-your-customer data from private or “unhosted” cold wallets on the sending or receiving end of transactions of more than $3,000. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) originally gave the proposal a very unusual 15-day comment period, which included the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

    Read More
  • Treasury sanctions phishing Russians
    The U.S. Treasury Department is doubling down on cryptocurrency scams (Photo: Pixabay)
    Cryptocurrencies

    U.S. Treasury sanctions two Russian men for stealing $17M in crypto

    U.S. authorities seized crypto assets stolen through a phishing scheme by two Russian hackers, and imposed sanctions similar to those used against hostile regimes, drug kingpins

    September 17, 2020 /

    Aside from seizing or freezing “all property and interests in property” from sanctioned persons, under the law “U.S. persons generally are prohibited from dealing with them,” according to the OFAC website. The Secret Service also seized millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies and cash allegedly stolen in the sophisticated phishing and spoofing attacks by Russian national Danil Potekhin in 2017 and 2018, which was subsequently laundered by Dmitrii Karasavidi.

    Read More
  • Coinbase Brian Armstrong Brian Brooks
    Brian Brooks (r) is leaving his gig as chief legal officer of Brian Armstrong's Coinbase to become a bank regulator
    People,  Regulation,  United States

    Coinbase loses chief legal officer to U.S. Treasury

    Brian Brooks is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange to become COO of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates and oversees banks in the U.S.

    March 16, 2020 /

    Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Brian Brooks has been appointed chief operating officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Treasury Department announced on March 16. Brooks will also serve as first deputy comptroller of the OCC, which charters, regulates, and supervises banks and savings associations in the United States.

    Read More
  • Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
    Treasury Secretary Mnuchin (Photo: YouTube @PBS News)
    Regulation

    Mnuchin: stricter crypto AML rules coming ‘very quickly’

    At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, the Treasury Secretary said FinCEN was prepping to release ‘significant’ new requirements for virtual currencies

    February 13, 2020 /

    The U.S. is joining regulators around the globe in moving to enforce tougher cryptocurrency anti-money laundering policies, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday. 

    Read More