OFAC and Crypto: What You Need to Know About Sanctions, Seizures, and Compliance

When the OFAC, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, enforces economic sanctions against individuals, groups, and countries. Also known as Office of Foreign Assets Control, it blocks transactions involving crypto wallets tied to terrorists, drug cartels, or hostile governments like North Korea. If you’re holding crypto, you’re not immune—even if you didn’t do anything wrong. OFAC doesn’t care if you bought ETH on Binance or mined BTC at home. If your wallet ever interacted with a flagged address, your funds could be frozen. That’s not speculation. It’s happened. In 2024, the U.S. government seized over $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency, mostly from hacks and ransomware payments. And OFAC was behind most of it.

OFAC’s reach extends to every exchange, wallet provider, and DeFi protocol operating in or serving U.S. users. Platforms like Coinbase and Kraken scan every transaction against OFAC’s sanctions list. If a wallet is flagged, they freeze it immediately—no warning, no appeal process. This isn’t just about criminals. In 2023, a grandmother in Ohio had $8,000 in Bitcoin frozen because her ex-husband used the same IP address to buy ETH from a sanctioned exchange. No charges. No trial. Just a message: ‘Your assets are restricted.’ That’s OFAC’s power. And it’s growing. The crypto seizures, the government’s practice of taking digital assets from illicit actors. Also known as asset forfeiture, it’s now a standard tool in law enforcement’s playbook. Countries like the U.S., UK, and EU are building centralized databases of crypto addresses linked to crime. Meanwhile, crypto sanctions, official restrictions on trading or transacting with specific crypto addresses or entities. Also known as blockchain sanctions, they’re being applied faster than blockchain technology can adapt. North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion from Bybit in 2025. OFAC didn’t just freeze the stolen coins—they labeled entire blockchain networks as high-risk. Now, if you use a wallet that once touched a hacker’s address, you’re flagged for life.

Compliance isn’t optional. If you run a business, trade crypto, or even hold large amounts, you’re part of this system. Exchanges ask for ID not just for KYC—they’re checking you against OFAC’s list. DeFi protocols like Uniswap are being pressured to add filtering tools. Even airdrops can be blocked if the project’s team has ties to a sanctioned country. The good news? You don’t need to be a criminal to get caught. You just need to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bad news? There’s no public way to check if your wallet is flagged. No portal. No lookup. You won’t know until your funds disappear.

Below, you’ll find real cases—how hacks led to seizures, how exchanges comply, and why some tokens vanish overnight. You’ll see how North Korea’s heists triggered global crackdowns, how the SEC’s fines tie into OFAC’s actions, and why Nigerian and Turkish traders still face hidden barriers. This isn’t theory. It’s happening. And if you’re in crypto, you’re already in the crosshairs.