CoinList, a crypto-asset platform based in the US, has reportedly agreed to a settlement of $1.2 million with the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) after allegations of carrying out transactions that may have violated sanctions.
As mentioned in a notice that was issued by OFAC on December 13, 2023, CoinList had allegedly processed 989 transfers for clients residing in Crimea, the area that was formerly a part of Ukraine, however, it is presently being occupied by Russia, between the dates of April 2020 and May 2022.
OFAC has reportedly said that the violations are “non-egregious” however the agency also said they had not been voluntarily self-disclosed.
OFAC also said that CoinList’s screening processes had failed to identify clients that said they were residents of non-embargoed nations but had actually given addresses within Crimea. The exchange had reportedly opened 89 accounts for clients who had named “Russia” as their nation of residence but actually offered addresses from Crimea.
OFAC also mentioned that CoinList apparently had knowledge or good reason to believe that these transfers had involved residents of Crimea, which reportedly violated applicable U.S. sanctions and offered certain economic benefits to the restricted area.
But the exchange operator has cooperated with U.S. authorities and the volume of transfers in violation of said sanctions represented a relatively small portion of the aggregate volume handled by the firm.
It’s worth noting that this latest enforcement action taken by OFAC against CoinList is not an isolated case.
Other U.S.-headquartered digital asset companies like Poloniex have also had to deal with similar types of actions that were related to sanctions violations.
In May of this year, Poloniex had agreed to pay a $7.6 million settlement for more than 65,000 apparent violations of different sanctions including those that had been targeting Crimea.