FinCEN regulator
Overview
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the US Department of the Treasury that collects and analyses financial transaction data to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crime. It was established on 25 April 1990 by Treasury Order 105-08, sits under the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and is headquartered in Vienna, Virginia; Andrea Gacki has served as director since July 2023. Its core authority derives from the Bank Secrecy Act, expanded by Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, which also made FinCEN a statutory Treasury bureau in 2002. For crypto, the pivotal document is FinCEN's 2013 guidance holding that virtual-currency exchangers and administrators — though not ordinary users — are money transmitters that must register as money services businesses and run AML/CFT programmes; a 2011 rule had already extended MSB definitions to 'other value that substitutes for currency', and 2021 BSA amendments folded digital-asset guidance into the federal AML/CTF framework. FinCEN also administers the Corporate Transparency Act's beneficial ownership information registry, which began accepting reports in 2024. FinCEN was created in 1990 and formally designated a Treasury bureau in 2002 under the PATRIOT Act. Its 2013 virtual currency guidance became the basis for US crypto exchange registration obligations. In 2020 the 'FinCEN Files' leak of suspicious activity reports revealed billions of dollars in flagged transactions processed by major banks. A federal court injunction on 3 December 2024 halted nationwide enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act on constitutional and small-business grounds; Treasury appealed on 5 December 2024.
Within the DeFi Intel graph, FinCEN connects to 20 tracked entities, most strongly to United States, Binance, Binance.
Relations
Top connections in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph (confidence-weighted, 10 of 20 total).
| Relation | Connected entity | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
governs | United States | 99% |
regulated_by | Binance | 95% |
submitted_to | Binance | 95% |
regulated_by | MoonPay | 95% |
regulated_by | Ramp Network | 95% |
regulated_by | Transak | 95% |
regulated_by | Alchemy Pay | 95% |
mentions | US Treasury, FinCEN publish AML, BSA rule proposals for GENIUS Act stablecoins - Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterprise | 95% |
governs | FinCEN Money Services Business Registration | 95% |
sued_by | Binance.US | 95% |
Frequently asked questions
What is FinCEN?
FinCEN is a regulator tracked in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph. It is connected to 20 other tracked entities, most strongly to United States, Binance, Binance.
What type of entity is FinCEN?
FinCEN is classified as a regulator (regulator) in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph.
What is FinCEN connected to?
In the DeFi Intel knowledge graph, FinCEN is linked to 20 other tracked entities, most strongly to United States, Binance, Binance.
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