JPMorgan Cracks Down: Freezes Blindpay & Kontigo Accounts Over Venezuela Business

JPMorgan slams the brakes on two fintech players. The banking giant froze accounts linked to Blindpay and Kontigo, citing their operations in Venezuela as the trigger.

The Compliance Hammer Drops

This isn't a routine audit—it's a targeted freeze. The move highlights the intense regulatory scrutiny facing any firm touching sanctioned jurisdictions. Banks are erring on the side of extreme caution, cutting off services at the first whiff of complex geopolitics.

Fintech's Fragile Lifelines

Traditional banking relationships remain a critical vulnerability for disruptive payment firms. When a behemoth like JPMorgan decides to pull the plug, operations can grind to a halt overnight. It's a stark reminder that for all their innovation, many fintechs still live and die by the grace of legacy bank infrastructure.

The real surprise here isn't the freeze—it's that anyone is still surprised when banks prioritize their own regulatory safety over client business models. A classic case of compliance departments earning their keep by saying 'no' to potentially profitable, but messy, opportunities.

Trump seizes tankers and calls Venezuela oil a U.S. asset

While JPMorgan was shutting off access, President Donald Trump was going full steam ahead with new actions against Venezuela. 2 weeks ago, Trump’s administration has intercepted two tankers full of Venezuelan oil, with a third one now being tracked.

Speaking to reporters, the president said, “Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it. Maybe we’ll use it in the strategic reserves. We’re keeping the ships also.”

At the center of the crackdown is Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA, already blacklisted under Executive Orders 13850 and 13884 since 2019. Trump’s Treasury department claimed in their official notice that oil sales are keeping Nicolás Maduro’s regime afloat.

Earlier this month, they officially labeled fentanyl (which they allege flows through Venezuela) a “weapon of mass destruction.”

The U.S. Treasury Department on December 11 sanctioned six shipping companies that have been moving oil out of Venezuela using shady location tactics and fake data transmissions.

The first company is Myra Marine Limited, based in the Marshall Islands. Next is Arctic Voyager Incorporated, also from the Marshall Islands. Then there’s Poweroy Investment Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands. Ready Great Limited, also from the Marshall Islands, was also sanctioned along with Sino Marine Services Limited, a UK-registered company that runs the TAMIA (IMO: 9315642), which was flagged in Hong Kong.

Lastly was Full Happy Limited, also registered in the Marshall Islands, and its ship took on oil in late May and sent it to Asia. Just like the others, it got hit with the same designation: E.O. 13850.

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