Blender.io mixer sanctioned by the United States

The US Treasury placed Blender.io, a cryptocurrency mixer, and related Bitcoin- and Ethereum-addresses on the sanctions list.

OFAC says the service helped launder funds stolen by North Korean hackers and was allegedly involved in ransomware attacks.

The agency also noted Blender.io’s link to the March Ronin Ethereum sidechain hack in the game Axie Infinity, in which Lazarus hackers stole crypto assets worth $625 million. About $20.5 million of this amount passed through the mixer, OFAC said.

Since its creation in 2017 Blender.io has processed more than $500 million in Bitcoin transactions.

The sanctions list includes 46 Bitcoin wallets directly belonging to Blender.io, and 12 Ethereum addresses associated with the Lazarus hacking group. This marks the first time a cryptocurrency mixer has been added to the sanctions list.

In April, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the BitRiver group, which operates cryptocurrency mining in Russia, the Hydra darknet marketplace and the Garantex cryptocurrency exchange.

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