CoinList, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, has agreed to a settlement of $1.2 million with the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
CoinList, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, has agreed to a settlement of $1.2 million with the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) following accusations of facilitating transactions that violated sanctions.
According to a notice issued by OFAC on December 13, CoinList processed 989 transactions for users in Crimea, the region that was previously part of Ukraine but is currently occupied by Russia, between April 2020 and May 2022. OFAC described the violations as "non-egregious" but noted that they were not voluntarily self-disclosed.
OFAC stated that CoinList's screening procedures failed to identify users who claimed to be residents of non-embargoed countries but provided addresses within Crimea. The exchange opened 89 accounts for customers who indicated "Russia" as their country of residence but provided addresses in Crimea.
OFAC further noted that CoinList had knowledge or reason to believe that these transactions involved residents of Crimea, which violated U.S. sanctions and provided economic benefits to the region. However, the exchange cooperated with U.S. officials, and the volume of transactions in violation of sanctions represented a small percentage of the total volume handled by the exchange.
This enforcement action by OFAC against CoinList is not an isolated incident. Other U.S.-based crypto firms, such as Poloniex, have also faced similar actions related to apparent sanctions violations. In May, Poloniex agreed to a $7.6 million settlement for over 65,000 apparent violations of various sanctions, including those targeting Crimea.
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