Genesis to pay $8M fine, forfeit BitLicense as NYDFS settlement

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) says Genesis Global Trading will pay an $8 million fine and surrender its BitLicense.
NYDFS said in a press release that investigations found the crypto platform had significant failings in its anti-money laundering and cybersecurity programs.
Genesis Global Trading is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group and received its BitLicense in 2018.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has announced an $8 million penalty against Genesis Global Trading, a subsidiary of crypto company Digital Currency Group.

Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris also announced that Genesis will surrender its BitLicense as part of a settlement following the New York regulator’s investigation. According to the NYDFS, investigations into the crypto platform’s activities revealed significant failings in its anti-money laundering and cybersecurity programs.

“Genesis Global Trading’s failure to maintain a functional compliance program demonstrated a disregard for the Department’s regulatory requirements and exposed the company and its customers to potential threats,” Superintendent Harris said.

The regulator found that the trading platform, the only Genesis entity that held the BitLicense, failed to meet the required Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering compliance standards. This also applied to transaction monitoring, Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filings and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) screening, Harris added in the press release.

Genesis Global Trading, different from the Genesis Global Capital that filed for bankruptcy in 2023, received the NYDFS’ virtual currency business license in 2018.

In its announcement today, the state regulator said the DCG subsidiary “was not involved in the Gemini Earn program.”