U.S. authorities have seized two accounts linked to the Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, a move that may prevent it from facilitating the purchase and sale of the digital currency in U.S. dollars. A seizure warrant obtained Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security froze the funds in an account that Iowa-based online payment processor Dwolla held at Veridian Credit Union in the name of Mutum Sigillum LCC. An affidavit filed by an agent with the department's investigations unit states that Mutum Sigillum, a Mt. Gox subsidiary incorporated in Delaware, was operating as an unlicensed money transmitter, a crime under Title 18, US code, Section 1960. In March, Treasury's anti-money laundering unit, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), issued guidance that dubbed digital currency exchanges money transmitters, a finding that obliged such entities to register with FinCEN and obtain licenses if the states in which they operate require them. A search of FinCEN's
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