Canadian financial authorities have levied a substantial $126 million penalty against cryptocurrency platform Cryptomus for systematic regulatory violations involving unreported high-risk transactions. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) identified multiple compliance breaches where the firm failed to flag and report numerous suspicious financial activities.
The investigation revealed Cryptomus neglected to monitor and disclose transactions connected to severe criminal enterprises, including child exploitation material distribution networks, sophisticated ransomware operations, and prohibited financial transfers linked to Iranian entities. Regulatory documentation indicates these omissions spanned thousands of individual transactions that should have triggered mandatory reporting protocols under Canada’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation.
This enforcement action represents one of the most significant penalties ever imposed on a digital asset service provider in Canada, signaling regulators’ intensified scrutiny of cryptocurrency compliance frameworks. FINTRAC officials emphasized that financial intermediaries operating in Canada must maintain rigorous transaction monitoring systems regardless of their technological infrastructure. The penalty reflects both the volume of unreported transactions and the severity of the associated illicit activities, underscoring regulatory expectations for proactive compliance in the rapidly evolving digital currency sector.
