2 years ago
Summary:
- The US Treasury Department has sanctioned a cryptocurrency mixer for the archetypal time
- Blender.io has been added to the OFAC’s SDN database for assisting successful illicit transactions that airs a menace to the United States and for aiding the North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, successful laundering stolen funds
- The US Treasury Department has besides added 4 Ethereum addresses linked to the Lazarus Group to the SDN list
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has for the archetypal clip sanctioned a cryptocurrency mixer.
According to the authoritative announcement by the OFAC office, the Bitcoin mixer of Blender.io has been sanctioned by the US Treasury for being utilized ‘by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to enactment its malicious cyber activities and money-laundering of stolen virtual currency.’
In particular, the sanctions announcement focuses connected the Lazarus Group that carried retired the largest DeFi heist to day connected the Ronin Network and Axie Infinity, worthy $615 million. Blender was reportedly utilized successful ‘ processing implicit $20.5 cardinal of the illicit proceeds.’
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson, explained:
Today, for the archetypal clip ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer. Virtual currency mixers that assistance illicit transactions airs a menace to U.S. nationalist information interests. We are taking enactment against illicit fiscal enactment by the DPRK and volition not let state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to spell unanswered.
Like the bulk of blockchain mixers available, Blender.io receives aggregate Bitcoin transactions and mixes them unneurotic earlier transmitting them to their eventual destinations astatine a fee. However, Blender does not warrant that the results of the mixing volition wholly fell the originating code of the transaction.
The US Treasury has Updated its OFAC SDN List
Additionally, the US Treasury OFAC bureau has updated its Special Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) database to see 4 further Ethereum wallets utilized by the Lazarus Group to launder the remainder of the stolen proceeds of the March 2022 Axie Infinity hack. The OFAC bureau has further provided a afloat list of sanctioned addresses connected its website.
English (US) 