Canada's financial intelligence agency, has issued its highest-ever fine to cryptocurrency exchange Cryptomus for not flagging transactions linked to criminal activity including trafficking in child sex abuse material.

Vancouver

Canadian financial crime regulator Fintrack has levied a record-setting fine of nearly $177 million against Kryptimus, a BC-based cryptocurrency exchange operated by Zeltrox Enterprises. The penalty follows a spot audit that found Kryptimus failed to report thousands of suspicious transactions, including transfers to sanctioned countries such as Iran and activities potentially linked to digital ransoms and child sexual abuse material.

This fine is about nine times larger than the previous record in the sector and highlights increasing regulatory scrutiny of virtual currency platforms. The government has indicated a desire for a national financial crime agency, while Fintrack has raised concerns about transparency and accountability in the crypto industry. Kryptimus did not respond to requests for comment beyond an automated sales message.

Canada fines Cryptomus record-setting $176.9M

The Canadian agency that fights criminal financing is taking on a BC-based cryptocurrency exchange. Fintrack says Kryptimus, run by Zeltrox Enterprises, failed to flag thousands of suspicious transactions. Essentially what you have here is a spot audit and that's why you'll have seen all these charges stem from one month in 2024. So now a record-setting penalty, nearly $177 million against Kryptimus. About nine times the last record fine against a different crypto firm, nearly $20 million back in September. Financial companies, crypto or not, have to report large or suspicious transactions to Fintrack. Say, sending money to places a regular bank can't. All that they need for the purposes of pressing charges is to say, well here's a bunch of transactions going to Iran. That's a sanctioned country. Beyond geography, the regulator is concerned some transactions could have been used for digital ransoms or for trafficking in child sexual abuse material. Virtual currency can be more anonymous than regular banking. But eventually, crypto exchanges have to hit the real world. And that's what companies are supposed to track. And to do that, you need an exchange in a mature financial jurisdiction. So this explains why people in Uzbekistan, Iran end up running and using an exchange here in Canada. This big fine could be a sign of more to come, with the government saying it wants a national financial crime agency. And Fintrack itself mentioning vulnerabilities in the virtual currency sector significantly impair transparency and accountability. This is part of an overall pattern of the regulators. And there's more than just Fintrack, but the regulators in this space wanting to take more action, wanting to be seen as taking more action. Not least because we're getting international pressure about, you know, lack of enforcement in Canada. CBC News reached out to the crypto company being fined and only got an automated sales message in reply. Anis Heidari, CBC News, Calgary.

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