OFAC to sanction digital currency wallets of persons from SDN lists

OFAC or the Office of Foreign Assets Control, an organization in the United States subject to the Treasury and dealing with the issue of new sanctions implementation as well as financial intelligence, has recently mentioned that in the future lists of specially designated nationals (SDNs) it might easily include some related Bitcoin addresses belonging to persons under sanctions.

The agency has noted the obvious disadvantage of digital currency wallets in comparison to traditional businesses - it’s much harder to inform all crypto companies that a Bitcoin address is now toxic and that the U.S. government does not allow to engage with it anymore.

“Persons including technology companies; administrators, exchangers, and users of digital currencies; and other payment processors should develop a tailored, risk-based compliance program, which generally should include sanctions list screening and other appropriate measures. An adequate compliance solution will depend on a variety of factors, including the type of business involved. There is no single compliance program or solution suitable for every circumstance,” OFAC stated on the Treasury’s official website.

This measure fully corresponds with the recent words of Steven Mnuchin, Treasury head, who recently vowed his colleagues would make sure that Bitcoin would not have become a new Swiss bank. In other words, nobody should feel safe while trying to evade sanctions in Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, some messages imply that another probable sanctions evasion tool - Petro in Venezuela - has been made under guidance or with the help of the Russian government trying to help the South American regime to evade sanctions previously imposed by the United States. While Bitnewstoday cannot confirm these allegations, one can find out that the leader of the vast Russian oil company Rosneft Igor Sechin has previously been seen on good terms with President Nicolas Maduro which at least indicates that these countries have close business ties.

Image courtesy of Granma