
US cryptocurrency exchange sanctions over ransomware likely not the…
The sanctions against Suex, aimed to cut ransomware gangs off from their revenue, sends a signal to other exchanges that support criminal activity.
Days after the Russia-linked BlackMatter ransomware gang hit an Iowa grain cooperative with a ransomware attack, the Biden administration unveiled its latest effort to address the ongoing ransomware crisis. In a move designed to cut off ransomware gangs from their financial rewards, the Treasury Department announced that its Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) placed Czech Republic-registered but Russian national-owned and -operated cryptocurrency exchange Suex on its sanctioned entity list, formally called the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.
Suex facilitates “financial transactions for ransomware actors, involving illicit proceeds from at least eight ransomware variants,” according to the announcement. Treasury says that over 40% of Suex’s known transaction history is associated with illicit actors, representing $370 million in illicit trading.
OFAC included on the SDN list a total of 25 bitcoin, ethereum, and tether addresses known to be controlled by Suex. These addresses received more than $934 million in various crypto assets overall. In addition, blockchain transactions tracking company Chainanalysis said that the Suex addresses have received more than $160 million in bitcoin alone from “ransomware actors, scammers, and dark net market operators” since the exchange was founded in 2018.
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