US Treasury Sanctions A Crypto Mixer For The First Time

The U.S. Treasury's Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) just sanctioned a cryptocurrency mixer for the first time ever.

What Happened: Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson wrote in a statement released on Friday that "today, for the first time ever, Treasury is sanctioning a virtual currency mixer."

The action follows the Federal Bureau of Investigation accusing two alleged North Korean governmental hacker groups of performing a $620 million crypto heist in mid-April and then moving 21,000 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) to crypto mixer Tornado Cash within a week.

See Also: How To Earn Free Crypto

Nelson wrote that the Treasury is "taking action against illicit financial activity by the DPRK and will not allow state-sponsored thievery and its money-laundering enablers to go unanswered." Despite a considerable portion of the funds being sent to Tornado Cash, so far the Treasury Department has taken action only against competing mixer Blender.io, which processed $20.5 million of the hack's proceeds.

During its investigation, the OFAC also found that Blender.io facilitated money laundering for Russia-linked ransomware operators such as Trickbot, Conti, Ryuk, Sodinokibi and Gandcrab. As of press time, Blender.io is offline and not accessible.