- Xeltox/Cryptomus fined C$177 million for failing to report more than 1,000 suspicious cryptocurrency transactions.
- Reported violations involved transactions linked to child sexual abuse material, fraud, ransomware payments, and sanctions evasion.
- The firm had previously faced action from the BC Securities Commission over operating an unrecognized exchange.
Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac) has issued a record-setting penalty to Xeltox Enterprises Ltd., which operates as Cryptomus, after finding serious breaches of anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations.
The Vancouver-based crypto services provider was fined C$177 million (approximately US$126 million) for multiple reporting failures involving large volumes of suspicious transactions, Fintrac said in a statement released Wednesday.
Widespread reporting failures
Fintrac’s investigation found that Cryptomus omitted thousands of required reports in a single month, creating significant compliance concerns.
The agency reported that Cryptomus did not file suspicious transaction reports for more than 1,000 transactions in July 2024 that reasonably appeared to be linked to money laundering. These transactions included proceeds connected to child sexual abuse material, fraudulent schemes, ransomware payments, and attempts to evade sanctions.
In addition, Fintrac determined that the company failed to report over 1,500 transactions in which clients transferred virtual currency amounts of C$10,000 or more in a single transaction during the same period, breaching mandatory large-transaction reporting rules.
Those reporting failures prompted Fintrac to take what it called “unprecedented enforcement action,” reflecting the gravity of the potential financial crime risks involved.
Fintrac CEO Sarah Paquet said the scale and nature of the violations required decisive action, noting the company’s repeated inability to meet its AML responsibilities.
Prior regulatory scrutiny of Cryptomus
Cryptomus, formerly known as Certa Payments Ltd., offers trading, payment processing, digital wallets, and a peer-to-peer exchange service. The firm has been under regulatory scrutiny in Canada before this penalty.
In May, the British Columbia Securities Commission accused Cryptomus of possibly operating as an unrecognized crypto exchange, and issued a temporary order suspending the company from trading securities or derivatives until June. That action underscored broader concerns about the firm’s compliance with financial regulations.
Cryptomus’s activities in Canada and its prior enforcement history highlight the difficulties regulators face when supervising crypto platforms, particularly where high-volume or poorly monitored transactions can intersect with illicit activity.
The recent fine marks a substantial escalation in enforcement and signals that Canadian authorities intend to hold cryptocurrency firms strictly accountable for AML compliance.
Implications for the cryptocurrency sector
The C$177 million penalty against Xeltox and Cryptomus sends a clear message to crypto businesses operating in Canada: compliance with anti-money-laundering laws is mandatory, and failures carry significant financial and operational consequences.
The alleged lapses at Cryptomus illustrate the risks posed by platforms that process large volumes of digital-asset transactions without adequate monitoring or reporting controls. Regulators expect virtual asset service providers to integrate compliance into core operations rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Fintrac’s decision establishes a new enforcement benchmark in Canada’s digital asset sector and is likely to influence how cryptocurrency firms, both domestic and international, prioritize AML systems, transaction monitoring, and reporting practices to avoid similar penalties in the future.