U.S. Treasury sanctioned Blender.io
The TokenScope Team is constantly monitoring changes in the sanctions lists published on official resources containing crypto credentials. TokenScope data base has the real-time update with the relevant data and ready to be used to verify crypto addresses and services, as well as for conducting cryptocurrency investigations.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on an ongoing basis, publishes lists of individuals and companies owned or controlled by specific countries or operating internationally without reference to a specific country. These lists identify individuals, groups of individuals or organizations for which there is an information concerning their relation to terrorism or other criminal activities.
Collectively, these individuals and companies are referred to as "Specially Designated Nationals" or "SDNs", their assets are blocked, and U.S. citizens are prohibited from interacting with them. Many countries also monitor these sanctions lists while checking counterparties for credibility.
The SDN sanctions list has already been amended three times in May 2022, but only once the amendment contained a full list of crypto credentials: On May 6, 2022, "Blender.io", the popular online cryptocurrency mixer that was operating since 2017, was blocked. According to OFAC, "Blender.io" assisted the North Korean hacker group "Lazarus Group" in March this year in stealing cryptocurrency in the amount of about $620 million from a blockchain project related to the online video game Axie Infinity.
"Lazarus Group" is known to transfer through the "Blender.io" service a total of more than $20 million in cryptocurrency, stolen as a result of hacking attacks. The blocked service has also been accused of facilitating other hacker groups associated with cryptocurrency extortion.
Graph with a part of the "Blender.io" sanctioned address is available here
In addition, new crypto requisites used by the North Korean hacker "Lazarus Group" were added to the sanctions list on the same day, as well as a number of services associated with illegal activities.
The full list of the "Blender.io" cryptocurrencies can be found on the official website of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Also, you can report us any cases related to specific cryptocurrency addresses and the considered risks at TokenScope.com via "Reporting a cryptocurrency address" form. This will help to protect other users from the risks of interacting with such addresses and their owners.
