OFAC
The US Treasury office that administers and enforces economic sanctions, including maintaining lists of specific blocked individuals, entities, and wallet addresses.
OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control) is a US Treasury office that administers and enforces US economic and trade sanctions, including maintaining a list of specifically blocked individuals, entities, and — relevant to crypto specifically — individual wallet addresses, that US persons and many regulated platforms are prohibited from transacting with.
Many regulated crypto exchanges and protocols screen transactions against OFAC's lists as part of their broader sanctions screening (see Kaavon's "Sanctions Screening" glossary definition) compliance obligations, and OFAC has specifically sanctioned certain crypto addresses and services directly, a real, documented enforcement action distinct from sanctioning a person or company alone.
Examples
- OFAC has directly sanctioned specific crypto wallet addresses in real, documented enforcement actions, not just individuals and companies.
- Many regulated crypto platforms screen transactions against OFAC's sanctions lists as part of their broader compliance obligations.