A U.S. court has accused three individuals from Russia of running cryptocurrency blenders that were under sanctions, which authorities claim were utilized by criminal groups originating from North Korea.
It’s been reported by the Department of Justice that Roman Ostapenko, Alexander Oleynik, and Anton Tarasov are facing charges related to money laundering, specifically concerning cryptocurrency mixing platforms Blender.io and Sinbad.io.
For a period of four years, starting in 2018 and ending in 2022, Blender functioned. However, the U.S. authorities eventually decided to close down its online site. Later on, Sinbad stepped in as a replacement following Blender’s shutdown. Yet, even Sinbad’s platform wasn’t left untouched by federal investigators.
As an analyst, I’m reporting that Brent S. Wible, a key figure at the Department of Justice (DOJ), declared that the accused have established “safe zones” for criminals to clean their ill-gotten gains. The DOJ has confirmed the recent arrests of Ostapenko and Oleynik, while Tarasov remains at large and is being sought by U.S. authorities.
The accused individuals, by supposedly managing these mixers, facilitated a more convenient way for hacking organizations backed by states or other malicious cyber actors to gain financial benefits from crimes that posed risks to public safety and the country’s security.
DOJ indictment
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Treasury have been focusing more closely on the use of cryptocurrency blending platforms such as Blender and Sinbad, which has attracted criticism from supporters of blockchain technology who claim these actions undermine privacy protections.
One notable incident centered around Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer operating on Ethereum, which processed a significant amount of transactions worth millions of dollars. In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on this service, resulting in lawsuits being filed against its creators in both the United States and the Netherlands.
In November 2024, a higher court annulled the U.S. Treasury’s penalties against Tornado Cash, declaring them as unauthorized. Despite this, federal investigators have persisted in their efforts to prosecute the mixer’s creators, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov.
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2025-01-11 00:34