The custodial service BitGo has agreed to pay a fine of $93,830 as part of a settlement of allegations of violations of the sanctions regime by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
According to OFAC, the service did not prevent individuals from sanctioned jurisdictions such as Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria from opening accounts and using its ‘hot wallet’ services.
According to the regulator, from March 2015 through December 2019 BitGo, with ‘obvious violations’, processed 183 digital-currency transactions totaling nearly $9,128. The agency says the service had data on the IP addresses of these users, but did not exercise control over the transactions.
In OFAC’s statement, it noted that the maximum penalty in such cases stands above $53 million. The agency deemed BitGo’s violations ‘not egregious’, adding that the company cooperated in the investigation, took steps to remedy the situation and hired a Chief Compliance Officer.
Taking all factors into account, OFAC set a civil penalty for BitGo at $93,830, based on a baseline calculation of $183,000.
In July, BitGo integrated a FATF-compliance tool for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures.
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