Sanctions have been imposed on SUEX, a virtual currency exchange, by the United States Department of the Treasury (USDT) for aiding at least eight ransomware variants in laundering their crypto ransoms, according to a press release. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) listed the company as a specially designated national (SDNs) for illicit transactions facilitated on its platform, as per the release. Suex's property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction will be blocked due to this designation, and U.S. citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Suex. The USDT has also blocked entities in which Suex owns a stake of 50 percent or more. It warned that financial institutions found to be in business with Suex will attract "sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action". More than 40 percent of Suex’s transactions involve malicious actors, the USDT said. This translates to more than $370 million as per an analysis by Elliptic, a cryptocurrency-tracking firm, that was reported on by the Associated Press. More such designations are possible in the future, the AP report added. “Exchanges like Suex are critical to attackers’ ability to extract profits from ransomware attacks. Today’s action is a signal of our intention to expose and disrupt the illicit infrastructure used in these attacks,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo was quoted as saying by AP. The sanctions mark the first time that action has been taken against a crypto exchange in light of growing ransomware attacks. It indicates that the U.S. government…
