US Treasury Sanctions Crypto Miner Sinbad Over North Korea Ties
The United States Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the cryptocurrency mixer Sinbad, a platform that was responsible for money laundering for the hacking group Lazarus, based in North Korea.
In the year In a Nov. 29 announcement, OFAC said Sinbad “made millions of dollars worth of virtual currency from the Lazar Group,” including the June 2022 Horizon Bridge hack, the March 2022 AXE Infinity Ronin Bridge hack, and the June 2023 hack. Atomic bag. The hacks caused about $820 million in losses at the time.
Treasury Under-Secretary Wali Adeyemo said, “Mixing services that allow criminal actors like the Lazarus group to log stolen assets will have serious consequences.” The Treasury Department and US government partners are ready to deploy all tools to prevent virtual currency exchangers like Sinbad from facilitating illegal activities.
As of November 29, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Netherlands' Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service and the Public Prosecutor's Office, and Finland's National Bureau of Investigation seized Sinbad's website. Treasury added that the sanctions were “not intended to punish but to induce behavioral change”.
OFAC has previously sanctioned crypto mixers including Tornado Cash and Blender. In February, risk management firm Elliptic reported that it was “highly likely” that Sinbad and Blender were one and the same based on the chain's behavior – possibly in an attempt to avoid sanctions.
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It is unclear how investors in the crypto space will respond to the Sinbad sanctions. Following the crackdown on Tornado Cash, a group of individuals backed by crypto exchange Coinbase filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury and the State Department overstepped its authority. A judge ruled in favor of the Treasury following a motion for summary judgment, but the beneficiaries appealed in November.
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