3 ms·
Sure. But running an exchange where USD goes to terrorists - or, indeed, where you can’t show that USD does not go to terrorists - is highly illegal. If ranso
by owenmarshall 5y ago
Sure. But running an exchange where USD goes to terrorists - or, indeed, where you can’t show that USD does not go to terrorists - is highly illegal.
If ransomware gangs are directly or indirectly targeted by OFAC, that would have massive ramifications.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago> running an exchange where USD goes to terrorists - or, indeed, where you can’t show that USD does not go to terrorists - is highly illegal Doesn't existing anti-terrorist financing (ATF) law cover this?
- owenmarshall 5y agoAML, SDN lists - yes, all that is in scope. But enforcement has been uneven: it’s so far been about making US exchanges comply with KYC laws. Nobody has really gone further. What happens when a company is a victim of a ransomware attack and OFAC puts the extortion wallet on an exclusion list?
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago> What happens when a company is a victim of a ransomware attack and OFAC puts a wallet on an exclusion list? That wallets gets tainted? Its coins become less valuable? Marked wallets have been an obvious thing coming down the pipes.
- owenmarshall 5y agoThe risk isn’t just to the person holding the wallet: it’s the risk of OFAC sanctions hitting the exchanges that takes dirty BTC and pays USD. So now, know your customer turns from “be sure I don’t send USD to a specially designated national” to “be sure I never accept crypto from a burnt wallet.”
- mullingitover 5y agoExcept you can't choose whether you accept or not - the transactions sending BTC into your wallet are not at your discretion, you can't 'reject' them.