Treasury announces settlements of $24 million and $29 million with virtual currency exchange Bittrex over violations

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Tuesday announced a $24.3 million settlement and $29.3 million settlement with Bittrex Inc., a company based in Bellevue, Wash., that provides a virtual currency exchange and hosted wallet services. OFAC said Bittrex has agreed to pay $24.3 million to settle its potential civil liability for 116,421 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs, adding that the company failed to prevent persons apparently located in the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria from using its platform to engage in transactions worth about $263 million. FinCEN said it has assessed a civil money penalty in the amount of $29.3 million against Bittrex for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN’s implementing regulations, adding that it found the company failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program from February 2014 through December 2018.