US Sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has cleared up some rules pertaining to Tornado Cash.  While some helpful guidance and reassurance have been provided, many questions remain regarding the Office’s designation of the privacy tool.  The Treasury reiterated that U.S. persons are no longer allowed to interact with Tornado Cash. However, anyone who had their funds trapped inside Tornado Cash prior to August 8th may apply for a license to retrieve them. “OFAC would have a…

One day after the IMF’s warning, the US treasury has hit multiple Russian Bitcoin mining companies with secondary sanctions. The increased restrictions should prevent Russia from monetizing its energy resources using proof-of-work crypto networks. Cutting Off Mining Resources As reported by CNBC, this marks the first time the Treasury has ever placed trade restrictions on virtual currency miners. Last month, President Biden announced that America would no longer accept Russian oil, with other jurisdictions following suit. Gas prices in the…

Following its invasion of Ukraine, sanctions on Russia are becoming more and more devastating. Recently, payment providers decided to block money from coming in and out of the country.  The pressure is mounting on crypto companies as well. Last weekend, payment processing giants Visa and MasterCard joined PayPal in suspending cross-border payments for their Russian clients. The decisions are set to comply with sanctions of NATO and other western countries, where these companies have their headquarters in. The largest credit-card…

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underway, crypto users have risen up to help the nation defend against its hostile neighbor. The Ukrainian military has reportedly raised $4 million in crypto through NGOs and volunteer groups since the attack began. International Crypto Crowdfunding According to live data from Elliptic – a blockchain analytics firm – crypto donations to Ukrainian NGO’s have “soared” since the beginning of the invasion. Hovering near-zero earlier this month, donations rose above $500,000 on February 24th, and…

One of the concerns of crypto critics is their ability to allow people to do what they like against government regulations. A General in Iran (Saeed Muhammad) has suggested the utilization of crypto to bypass U.S. and UN sanctions. Saeed Muhammad is the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that is under the Armed Forces of Iran. The country has been encountering sanctions from the United States over a long period, thereby disallowing her from participating in international trade.…