Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, has issued a new internal providence that defines the guidelines it will follow in dealing with reports of suspicious activity related to fintech platforms. The document describes that the use of unauthorized platforms might constitute a suspicious activity, which could ostensibly lead to penalties of $15,000 for its customers.

Sunacrip Publishes Internal Providence on Fintech Activities

Sunacrip is the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog. It wants to be able to better monitor the transactions that Venezuelans use cryptocurrencies and other assets through fintech platforms. The organization issued a new providence that establishes the mechanism to deal with suspicious activities, including on fintech platforms.

The providence is an internal document signed and signed by Joselit Ramirez (head of the organization) to include different Financial Action Task Force directives in its work processes to detect money laundering or terrorist financing schemes. Venezuela is currently not a member of the FATF due to international sanctions.

The internal providence indicates that non-authorized transactions might be considered an alarm signal and can be reported to national financial intelligence to have them investigated and sanctioned. While the memo does not indicate which penalties can be applied for these violations, another related law does define sanctions for using crypto assets without authorization, establishing penalties of up to $15,000.

Disrupting Crypto Adoption

This new set of rules could affect some users of exchanges such as Binance. Binance is a popular platform, but it lacks an official registration or authorization from the institution. To avoid the sanctions, users of the exchange may flee to other platforms. There are also other popular exchanges in the country that are not listed on the authorized exchanges list.

In January, Sunacrip revoked the licenses of two exchanges and informed about the ones that were authorized by the organization, leaving some important names like Binance, out. Ramirez advised users not to use these unlicensed exchanges at that time.

But this regulation does not apply to only cryptocurrency exchanges. This regulation would also apply to fintech platforms and fiat exchanging service providers that operate in the country.

Raul Velasquez, a Venezuelan attorney and cryptocurrency enthusiast, said that the national financial Intelligence Unit has the ability to request information from both banks and crypto institutions. “Fiat on- and off-ramps are particularly prone to being monitored. This is however a costly and complex task for the government institutions.” He concluded his remarks by noting that it was strange that the document wasn’t published in the country’s official gazette. This being a mandatory procedure to publish all documents of this type.

What do you think about the new providence of Sunacrip that establishes guidelines regarding suspicious activities on fintech platforms? Please leave your comments below.

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