The U.S. is sanctioning North Korean digital currency mixing firm Blender.io, which the country allegedly uses for stealing virtual currency and supporting cybercrimes. The sanctions are imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Blender is accused of helping Lazarus Group, a sanctioned North Korean cyber hacking group, to carry out a $620 million digital currency heist in March. Treasury says Blender helped process over $20.5 million in digital currency.
Mixing services combine various assets, including potentially illegally obtained funds and legitimately obtained funds, so that illegal actors can cloak the origin of stolen funds. Four wallets, or virtual currency addresses, tied to Lazarus Group were also added to Treasury's list of sanctioned entities.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The United States remains committed to seeking diplomacy with the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) and calls on the DPRK to engage in dialogue. At the same time, we will continue to address the DPRK’s unlawful cyber activities, as well as violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
Last month, the U.S. imposed its first set of penalties against a cryptocurrency mining firm in relation to Russia's war on war. Digital currency firm Bitriver AG and 10 of its subsidiaries were included in a package of sanctions from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
