Bitcoin News
By Steven Anderson
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How the Laundering Operation Worked. The alleged scheme wasn't complicated, at least not on the surface.
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What the Sanctions Actually Do. Being designated by OFAC is serious. Fast. Any assets these twelve individuals and two companies…
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The U.S. government just went after the Sinaloa Cartel's money machine. Twelve individuals and two companies are now under sanctions for allegedly helping the cartel wash drug…
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control, better known as OFAC, announced the designations on a Wednesday.
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Twelve people. Two companies. That's the scope of what got hit.
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The alleged scheme wasn't complicated, at least not on the surface. Cash from drug sales — street-level fentanyl and cartel product moving through the U.S.
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Criminal networks have leaned into crypto for exactly that reason. It's not that digital currencies are untraceable — blockchain records are actually public — but speed,…
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The sanctioned entities were, per OFAC's framing, integral to that layer. They didn't just move funds occasionally — they provided what amounts to a financial service for the…
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Being designated by OFAC is serious. Fast. Any assets these twelve individuals and two companies hold within U.S. jurisdiction get frozen. U.S.
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Related: Polymarket Launches Parlays as SEC Opens Prediction Market ETF Debate
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It's a hard cutoff from the dollar-based financial system, which still dominates global commerce even as crypto grows. The cartel loses its ability to move funds through U.S.
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Whether the designated parties actually stop operating is a different question. Cartels are adaptive.
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OFAC has been sharpening its crypto enforcement capabilities for years now, and it's gotten more aggressive about naming specific individuals rather than just broad…
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The coordination required for an action like this probably ran across multiple agencies — Treasury, DEA, possibly Justice Department prosecutors building parallel cases.
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See also: Missouri AG Calls CoinFlips Crypto ATMs Getaway Cars for Fraud
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