By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • LATEST NFT NEWS
    • BITCOIN NEWS
    • ETHEREUM NEWS
    • BLOCKCHAIN NEWS
    • ALTCOINS NEWS
  • NFT Collection
    • RARITY TOOL BY NFTStudio24
    • UP Coming NFT
    • NFT EXPLORE
  • NFT STORIES
  • PRESS RELEASE
Search
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
© 2022 NFTStudio24.com News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: North Korea crypto laundering case: Blender.io gets sanctioned by the US
Share
Sign In
0

No products in the cart.

Notification Show More
Latest News
EXIT partners with NFT TiX to release first NFT tickets in the world
EXIT partners with NFT-TiX to release first NFT festival tickets in the world
June 30, 2022
PrimeXBT award winning crypto
PrimeXBT Review 2022: The award-winning crypto trading app
June 27, 2022
TradFi - Mastercard wants to offer crypto functions directly to 82% of Latino consumers
MasterCard Credit Card will offer crypto functions directly to 82 percent of Latino consumers through TradeFi
June 27, 2022
How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs
How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs
June 26, 2022
BAYC co founder Gordon Goner
Bored Ape founders address the Nazi allegations
June 26, 2022
Aa
NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.
Aa
Search
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • LATEST NFT NEWS
    • BITCOIN NEWS
    • ETHEREUM NEWS
    • BLOCKCHAIN NEWS
    • ALTCOINS NEWS
  • NFT Collection
    • RARITY TOOL BY NFTStudio24
    • UP Coming NFT
    • NFT EXPLORE
  • NFT STORIES
  • PRESS RELEASE
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
HOME > Crypto and NFT NEWS > North Korea crypto laundering case: Blender.io gets sanctioned by the US
Crypto and NFT NEWS

North Korea crypto laundering case: Blender.io gets sanctioned by the US

news room
news room May 9, 2022 196 Views 6 Min Read
Updated 2022/05/09 at 3:39 PM
Share
6 Min Read
North Korea crypto laundering case, North Korea crypto case, North Korea crypto fraud case, blender.io, Crypto mixing process blender.io, crypto money laundering, crypto laundering, crypto fraud
SHARE

An investigation by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control reveals Blender.io was involved with the North Korea crypto laundering case. The department announced it will add the crypto mixing company to its list of organizations sanctioned by the country.

Contents
Blender.io: a frequent money laundering platformOther platforms involvedNorth Korea continues to evade US sanctionsFinal words

The previous exploit against the blockchain gaming platform Axie Infinity by the Lazarus group was suspected to be sponsored by the North Korean government. The Lazarus group stole around $620M from the Ronin Bridge on 23rd March. According to the data collection, US officials explained that around $20.5M was laundered to North Korea through a platform.

Recent investigations revealed that the attackers used the crypto mixing platform, Blender.io to launder money to North Korea.

Cryptocurrency has become a popular means to launder money in digital currencies due to the anonymity it provides through various companies. Furthermore, since the blockchain industry is yet to have a strong regulatory system, attackers can easily manipulate and hide transactions from the authorities.

North Korea crypto laundering case, North Korea crypto case, North Korea crypto fraud case, blender.io, Crypto mixing process blender.io, crypto money laundering, crypto laundering, crypto fraud

Blender.io: a frequent money laundering platform

Blender.io is a crypto mixing platform founded in 2017 that enables users to hide their identities and money when doing transactions. It operates on the bitcoin blockchain and has been widely used to transfer huge amounts of crypto money by hiding it from the eyes of attackers.

Blender.io mixes various transactions together before sending them to the desired destination. The platform has managed to transfer around $500 million in Bitcoin since its launch.

Despite its claim to give individuals privacy, it has been used for illegal activities by crypto hackers. Most of the transactions on Blender.io are money laundering cases linked to Russian groups. Experts claim Blender.io has facilitated Trickbot, Conti, Ryuk, Sodinokibi, and Gandcrab to commit cybercrimes.

Since the big heist on Axie Infinity funds, the US Treasury Department has been closely monitoring these types of platforms to trace any suspicious activity by the Lazarus Group.

Finally, on April 6, the department released a press release explaining Blender.io’s involvement with the Lazarus Group.

Brian E. Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence says, “Today, for the first time ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer.”

By blacklisting Blender.io, the Treasury hopes it will prevent the platform from helping cybercriminals to do illegal and unauthorized crypto transactions.

Blender.io is the first crypto mixing platform to be sanctioned by the US government. As of now, the platform is no longer available for the public.

Other platforms involved

Blender.io wasn’t the only platform used by Lazarus to transfer money. Since the mixing platform operates on the bitcoin blockchain and the Ronin network on Ethereum and USDC, the group is suspected to have used some other platform to convert.

The initial statement already revealed that hackers used Tornado Cash to filter funds, making it hard to trace the transactions.

North Korea continues to evade US sanctions

With the constant political tussle between the US and North Korea, the US Officials claim the country’s involvement in evading the sanctions through cryptocurrency. Just recently, an Ethereum dev, Virgil Griffith got a 5-year sentence in prison for conspiring with North Korea. He was charged with leaking important details to the country officials that could sabotage the US crypto community.

In the press release, The US Treasury Department stated that the country has been trying “to generate revenue for its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs” through cryptocurrency.

Nelson also expressed concern about North Korean involvement by saying “We are taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered.”

Final words

Crypto crimes continue to become more and more complex for cyber police. The US Treasury is investigating the laundered money to North Korea. However, much is yet to be traced as $620M was stolen by the attackers. So far, only $20.5M has been identified.

The affected blockchain game, Axie Infinity team, Sky Mavis, has already refunded the victims. The team managed to take out $450M and raised an additional $150M through Binance. With a total of $600M funds, it repaid the victims.

The involvement of Blender.io shows that these mixing platforms are giving a gateway to more black money crimes than privacy. Authorities should make an effort to regulate these platforms to ensure no hackers escape from their crimes.

- SUBMIT YOUR PRESS RELEASE -
Ad imageAd image

Don’t miss the Important NFT Drops

Are you tired of missing important NFT drops?

  • Just check out our NFT Collection page! Click here
  • For Upcoming NFTs projects, Click here

You Might Also Like

PrimeXBT Review 2022: The award-winning crypto trading app

MasterCard Credit Card will offer crypto functions directly to 82 percent of Latino consumers through TradeFi

How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs

Bored Ape founders address the Nazi allegations

Cryptoys is building a metaverse of NFTs for kids

Sign Up For Daily NFT Drops

Don't miss the next NFT drops!!!

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
news room May 9, 2022
Share this Article
Facebook TwitterEmail Print
Share
What do you think?
Love0
Sad0
Happy0
Sleepy0
Angry0
Dead0
Wink0
Previous Article starbucks, starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Howard Schultz, starbucks coffee, starbucks nft, starbucks coffee nft, non-fungible token Starbucks to launch new ecosystem, following its NFT series announcement
Next Article BlockDown NFT, BlockDown NFT metaverse, BlockDown Festival, BlockDown Festival events, BlockDown Festival event place, BlockDown Festival nft, BlockDown Festival p2e, BlockDown, blockdownconf.com, BlockDown metaverse , BlockDown metaverse festival, BlockDown festival, BlockDown blockchain, BlockDown, web3, metaverse BlockDown 2022: Croatia beats drums to welcome the world’s first Web3 festival
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest News

EXIT partners with NFT TiX to release first NFT tickets in the world
EXIT partners with NFT-TiX to release first NFT festival tickets in the world
PRESS RELEASE June 30, 2022
PrimeXBT award winning crypto
PrimeXBT Review 2022: The award-winning crypto trading app
Crypto and NFT NEWS June 27, 2022
TradFi - Mastercard wants to offer crypto functions directly to 82% of Latino consumers
MasterCard Credit Card will offer crypto functions directly to 82 percent of Latino consumers through TradeFi
Crypto and NFT NEWS June 27, 2022
- Career -
Ad imageAd image

You Might also Like

PrimeXBT award winning crypto
Crypto and NFT NEWS

PrimeXBT Review 2022: The award-winning crypto trading app

June 27, 2022
TradFi - Mastercard wants to offer crypto functions directly to 82% of Latino consumers
Crypto and NFT NEWS

MasterCard Credit Card will offer crypto functions directly to 82 percent of Latino consumers through TradeFi

June 27, 2022
How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs
Crypto and NFT NEWSLATEST NFT NEWS

How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs

June 26, 2022
BAYC co founder Gordon Goner
Crypto and NFT NEWSLATEST NFT NEWS

Bored Ape founders address the Nazi allegations

June 26, 2022
//

NFTStudio24 delivers the latest NFT news to its global audience. We are committed to reporting mainstream and emerging talent via exclusive press releases, podcast interviews, NFT rankings, and much more.

Recent Posts

  • EXIT partners with NFT-TiX to release first NFT festival tickets in the world
  • PrimeXBT Review 2022: The award-winning crypto trading app
  • MasterCard Credit Card will offer crypto functions directly to 82 percent of Latino consumers through TradeFi
  • How Seeds of Happiness is promoting positivity with NFTs
  • Bored Ape founders address the Nazi allegations

Experts Alliance

  • Experts Alliance
  • About Alliance
  • Alliance Benefits
  • Membership requirements
  • Apply Alliance

Quick Link

  • ABOUT US
  • CAREER
  • CONTACT US
//

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.NFTStudio24 | Latest and Upcoming NFT News, Press Releases, Reviews, and Others.
Follow US

© 2022 NFTStudio24.com News Network. All Rights Reserved.

  • bitcoinBitcoin(BTC)$19,096.31-4.83%
  • ethereumEthereum(ETH)$1,020.21-9.24%
  • tetherTether(USDT)$1.000.05%
  • usd-coinUSD Coin(USDC)$1.000.11%
  • binancecoinBNB(BNB)$208.41-5.11%
  • Binance USDBinance USD(BUSD)$1.000.38%
  • rippleXRP(XRP)$0.309609-6.00%
  • cardanoCardano(ADA)$0.440488-6.25%
  • SolanaSolana(SOL)$31.63-9.55%
  • dogecoinDogecoin(DOGE)$0.063226-3.34%
  • polkadotPolkadot(DOT)$6.73-6.46%
  • daiDai(DAI)$1.000.07%
  • tronTRON(TRX)$0.063778-3.09%
  • Shiba InuShiba Inu(SHIB)$0.000010-0.53%
  • leo-tokenLEO Token(LEO)$5.932.91%
  • wrapped-bitcoinWrapped Bitcoin(WBTC)$19,047.65-4.82%
  • AvalancheAvalanche(AVAX)$16.05-10.36%
  • Lido Staked EtherLido Staked Ether(STETH)$980.33-9.26%
  • litecoinLitecoin(LTC)$50.65-3.10%
  • matic-networkPolygon(MATIC)$0.434897-17.23%
  • FTXFTX(FTT)$23.50-7.06%
  • OKBOKB(OKB)$11.71-1.47%
  • CronosCronos(CRO)$0.110779-5.60%
  • chainlinkChainlink(LINK)$5.96-6.33%
  • stellarStellar(XLM)$0.104775-5.70%
  • NEAR ProtocolNEAR Protocol(NEAR)$3.19-7.01%
  • UniswapUniswap(UNI)$4.73-3.81%
  • cosmosCosmos Hub(ATOM)$7.02-1.39%
  • algorandAlgorand(ALGO)$0.288044-5.56%
  • moneroMonero(XMR)$108.87-8.94%
  • ethereum-classicEthereum Classic(ETC)$14.39-5.40%
  • bitcoin-cashBitcoin Cash(BCH)$99.34-4.20%
  • Theta FuelTheta Fuel(TFUEL)$0.045284-8.52%
  • ChainChain(XCN)$0.0873480.54%
  • vechainVeChain(VET)$0.021521-5.90%
  • FlowFlow(FLOW)$1.42-11.39%
  • FraxFrax(FRAX)$1.000.33%
  • HederaHedera(HBAR)$0.060790-6.91%
  • ApeCoinApeCoin(APE)$4.27-10.47%
  • Internet ComputerInternet Computer(ICP)$5.11-5.68%
  • tezosTezos(XTZ)$1.38-7.50%
  • The SandboxThe Sandbox(SAND)$0.98-6.87%
  • decentralandDecentraland(MANA)$0.81-7.44%
  • true-usdTrueUSD(TUSD)$1.000.18%
  • filecoinFilecoin(FIL)$5.15-5.55%
  • theta-tokenTheta Network(THETA)$1.12-9.49%
  • Axie InfinityAxie Infinity(AXS)$13.38-10.29%
  • ElrondElrond(EGLD)$46.84-8.06%
  • bitcoin-cash-svBitcoin SV(BSV)$52.86-6.73%
  • kucoin-sharesKuCoin(KCS)$9.66-3.61%
Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?