US Bitcoin trading platform punished for suspected money laundering

Beijing time, September 25th morning news, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday fined a New Jersey bitcoin swap trading platform, accusing the platform of facilitating illegal money laundering and misleading regulators through press releases and government-sponsored public meetings.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said the company, TerraExchange, designed the sale of a bitcoin swap product priced based on the value of bitcoin in October last year in an effort to test its systems.

Only two buyers were allowed to trade the product, and both purchased swaps of the same size and quantity, offsetting each other’s positions through illegal money laundering transactions.

However, the trading platform later attended a meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's advisory committee, where it claimed that the transaction demonstrated market interest, but did not disclose that the transaction was arranged.