Paxful Faces $7.5 Million Penalty for Enabling Illegal Transactions
- Paxful pleaded guilty to federal charges and will pay $7.5 million in penalties for facilitating money laundering and illegal activities on its Bitcoin exchange.
- The platform processed $3 billion in trades, including $17 million linked to illegal prostitution sites and $500 million involving sanctioned countries like Iran and North Korea.
- Co-founder Artur Schaback pleaded guilty in July 2024, acknowledging the company’s deliberate avoidance of compliance controls.
- Paxful received a $4 million criminal penalty from the Department of Justice and a $3.5 million civil penalty from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Paxful Holdings Inc., once a prominent peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, has admitted to knowingly enabling criminal transactions, including those tied to illegal prostitution and sanctioned countries, resulting in significant legal penalties.
The company processed billions in suspicious trades while avoiding compliance measures, leading to severe financial repercussions totaling $7.5 million in penalties (Source).
