Crypto trading site faces $7.5M in US fines for enabling North Korean laundering | NK News
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September 25, 2026Sep 25, 2026

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Crypto trading site faces $7.5M in US fines for enabling North Korean laundering

Peer-to-peer exchange allowed Lazarus Group to repeatedly cash out stolen funds despite warnings from Washington

A shuttered cryptocurrency trading platform is set to pay $7.5 million in criminal and civil penalties after pleading guilty to enabling money laundering by North Korean cybercriminals and other illicit actors.

Paxful Holdings Inc., the holding company of a peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange that shut down in November, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges including operating an unlicensed money transfer business and failing to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, the Department of Justice said in a press release Wednesday.

The charges relate to Paxful’s facilitation of transactions involving countries like North Korea, Iran and Venezuela, as well as criminal activities involving