In a decisive move, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Sinbad.io, a prominent cryptocurrency mixer alleged to have been employed by North Korean hackers associated with the Lazarus Group. Sinbad.io reportedly facilitated the laundering of millions in virtual currency stolen during cyberattacks, including incidents involving Horizon Bridge and Axie Infinity, over the past two years. The Treasury highlighted the mixer’s role in evading sanctions, concealing illicit transactions related to drug trafficking, child exploitation materials, and other unlawful activities within darknet marketplaces.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, underscored the severity of consequences, emphasizing that mixing services enabling entities like the Lazarus Group to launder stolen assets would face significant penalties. The platform, allegedly a preferred choice for the Lazarus Group, obscured the origins and destinations of transactions, hindering investigators’ efforts to track illicit activities. The seizure of Sinbad.io’s website, replaced with banners from law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the Department of Justice, signals a coordinated effort to curb cybercrime and thwart illicit financial activities facilitated by such mixers.
The Treasury Department revealed ties between Sinbad.io and its predecessor, Blender.io, previously sanctioned by OFAC. Blockchain research firm Elliptic identified shared infrastructure between the two platforms, further implicating Sinbad.io’s involvement in laundering proceeds from high-profile cryptocurrency thefts, including the $100 million stolen from Atomic Wallet and substantial sums from Axie Infinity and Horizon Bridge. This move reflects the U.S.’s ongoing efforts to disrupt state-backed actors’ use of cryptocurrency mixers, emphasizing sanctions to deter individuals from engaging with Sinbad.io, thus curbing cybercriminal activities associated with illicit financial transactions.
