US Treasury imposed sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer for the first time
The regulator claims that the Blender.io service was used by the DPRK to launder digital assets
06.05.2022 - 16:20
633
2 min
0
What’s new? The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on a virtual currency mixer for the first time. According to the regulator, the Blender.io mixer was used by Lazarus, a DPRK-based hacker group, to launder funds stolen from the Ronin Network sidechain. According to the OFAC, the attackers conducted $20,5 million through Blender.io.
The US Treasury Department’s press release
What else did the ministry add? All Blender property located in the United States has been blocked. Any transactions using the sanctioned service are banned within the US.
“Virtual currency mixers that assist illicit transactions pose a threat to US national security interests. We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
During the investigation, the OFAC also uncovered Blender’s assistance in money laundering for Russia-linked ransomware, including Trickbot, Conti, Ryuk, Sodinokibi, and Gandcrab.
The principle behind the mixers. Such services are used to increase the anonymity of transactions. A mixer user sends the cryptocurrency to an address that the platform has generated specifically for them. These coins are mixed with the assets of other mixer users. Just the client’s other address receives the same amount of mixed coins, so it becomes almost impossible to track where the funds came from.
What happened before? During the investigation into the Ronin Network hack, the US Department of Treasury and the FBI linked the sidechain attack to the Lazarus hacker group. The regulator already the wallet containing the stolen 148 000 ETH to the sanctions list.
The US Treasury Department also imposedsanctions against BitRiver, a mining company operating within the Russian Federation. BitRiver’s operations and assets, including its 10 subsidiaries, have been completely blocked in the United States. According to the regulator, Russian mining could help circumvent sanctions.
Useful material?
Incidents
Scammers took advantage of the former US president’s recent announcement of a real DeFi protocol
Sep 4, 2024
Technologies
The upgrade is aimed at implementing a new decentralized project governance system
Sep 2, 2024
Incidents
The company placed $2б4 billion in bonds maturing in 2026, but their value has fallen dramatically since the entrepreneur’s arrest
Aug 30, 2024
Incidents
In both cases, depending on the outcome of the investigations, the messenger could be blocked
Aug 29, 2024
Market
The project will offer a decentralized alternative to traditional banking services
Aug 29, 2024
Trends
Within a week of its launch, the platform managed to overtake its main competitor, Pump.fun on the Solana network
Aug 28, 2024