Bittrex has been fined $53 million for breaches of sanctions. Although the Treasury noted the relative insignificance of the transactions and Bittrex’s cooperation as mitigating considerations, the firm suffered a loss.
Enforcement Measures
As early as 2014, Bittrex would pay $53 million in fines and penalties for breaking U.S. Treasury sanctions.
Bittrex crypto exchange. Image: Bittrex
Between March 28, 2014, and December 31, 2017, Bittrex facilitated crypto transactions among sanctioned organisations, according to a Treasury enforcement announcement.
“As a result of deficiencies related to Bittrex’s sanctions compliance procedures,” it states, “Bittrex failed to prevent persons located in the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria from using its platform to engage in approximately $263,451,600.13 worth of virtual currency-related transactions.”
The Treasury additionally asserted that Bittrex’s rules and processes revealed at least a partial understanding of OFAC sanctions as early as August 2015, though Bittrex was unaware of the penalties.
In addition, the complaint states that based on Internet Protocol (“IP”) address information and physical location information, Bittrex had cause to know that these users were in sanctioned areas.
Treasury also highlighted various mitigating considerations it had considered in the case, saying that the firm was relatively young then, that it cooperated with the investigation, and that the amounts involved in the illegal transactions were minor. If not for these mitigating circumstances, potential fines may have reached $465 million.