Genesis to Pay $8M Fine, Lose BitLicense as NYDFS Settlement

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

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

Superintendent Adrian A. Harris announced that it will surrender its Genesis BitLicense as part of a settlement following a New York regulatory investigation. According to the NYDFS report, investigations into the crypto platform's activities have revealed significant weaknesses in its anti-money laundering and cyber security programs.

“Genesis Global Trading's failure to implement an operational compliance program demonstrated a disregard for the Department's regulatory requirements and exposed the company and its customers to risk,” said CEO Harris.

The regulated trading platform, the only entity that holds BitLicense, failed to meet required Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance requirements. This includes transaction monitoring, Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filings and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) screening, Harris added in the press release.

Genesis Global Trading, separate from Genesis Global Capital, which filed for bankruptcy in 2023, received the NYDFS virtual currency trading license in 2018.

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In a statement today, the state regulator said the DCG subsidiary was “not involved in the Gemini Income programme”.