Crypto exchange Bittrex to pay $29-million penalty to U.S. Treasury Department

The cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Inc. agreed to pay $29 million in penalties for "apparent breaches" of laws against money laundering and sanctions on certain nations, according to the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday.

Bittrex has been fined by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Treasury Department, respectively, in amounts of $24 million and $29 million.

However, the settlement stipulates that FinCEN would send $24 million to OFAC after receiving $29 million from Bittrex since some of the breaches are related to the "same underlying behavior" that is the subject of the OFAC investigation.

In reality, Bittrex will have to pay a $29 million fine.

Between March 2014 and December 2017, according to OFAC, Bittrex failed to stop users from accessing its platform from locations in the countries that have been designated as having sanctions, including Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.

According to FinCEN, their examination revealed that Bittrex did not maintain a successful anti-money laundering program between February 2014 and December 2018.

The report said, "Bittrex's AML policy failed to adequately address the risks connected with the goods and services it provided, particularly cryptocurrencies with greater anonymity.

As the use of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets has increased over the last few years and as they become more entwined with the regulated financial system, authorities are now responsible for assessing risks in a mostly unregulated industry.

Bittrex expressed its "pleasure to have completely addressed" the issue with OFAC and FinCEN on mutually agreed terms in an email statement to Reuters.