The US Treasury Department this Friday issued sanctions against a Bitcoin mixer (6), the case is unprecedented. As the name suggests, a mixer, or mixer in Portuguese, has the function of mixing coins, increasing their fungibility.
For example, the transparency of the blockchain makes it possible to track both the origin and destination of coins. The so-called mixers, however, shuffle transactions in such a way that they make such traceability impossible or at least difficult.
While there’s nothing wrong with seeking more privacy, many criminals use these tools to hide the origins of their fortunes. Unsurprisingly, the US sanction of a mixer is linked to the processing of money from a hack.
Sanctioned Mixer was used after BRL 3 billion hack
According to a note from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department, the Blender mixer (Blender.io) was used by Grupo Lazarus to process part of the hack, equivalent to BRL 3 billion suffered by Ronin, a project linked to the game Axie Infinity.
Of this R$3 billion, the note states that R$103 million (US$20.5 million) went through this mixer. Despite offering privacy after the shake, transferring money to Blender is easy to identify.
“Today, the Treasury is adopting a virtual currency mixer for the first time.”
“Virtual Currency Mixers That Support Illegal Transactions Threaten US National Security Interests”said Brian E. Nelson, the US Secretary of the Treasury. “We are taking action against North Korea’s illegal financial activities and will not allow state-sponsored robberies and their money laundering activists to go unanswered.”
The FBI had previously blamed such a group of North Korean hackers for the billionaire theft. Moreover, the sanctions against Blender show the interest of the US in fighting illegal activities in the cryptocurrency sector.
“Facilitate illegal transactions without any worries”
The US Treasury describes Blender and claims that the platform has no control and does not want to control the origin of the funds processed by the platform. Noting that US$500 million (R$2.5 billion) has already passed through its hands since its inception, in 2017.
“Blender.io (Blender) is a virtual currency mixer that operates on the Bitcoin blockchain and enables illegal transactions indiscriminately, obscuring their origin, destination and counterparties.”
That is why the US accuses Blender of facilitating the laundering of part of the 3 billion BRL in the Sky Mavis hack. In the sanctions list, the Treasury also listed 46 addresses linked to Blender and another 12 Ethereum addresses linked to the Lazarus Group.
Source: Live Coins
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
