OFAC Sanctions Virtual Currency Mixer Sinbad Used by North Korean Hackers

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned virtual currency mixer Sinbad.io, which is used as a “key money-laundering tool” by Lazarus Group, a sanctioned North Korean cyber-hacking entity. OFAC said Sinbad has processed millions of dollars’ worth of virtual currency from Lazarus Group “heists” and is used by cybercriminals to “obfuscate transactions linked to malign activities such as sanctions evasion, drug trafficking, the purchase of child sexual abuse materials, and additional illicit sales on darknet marketplaces.”

Mixing services that “enable criminal actors, such as the Lazarus Group, to launder stolen assets will face serious consequences,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. He said the Biden administration is “ready to deploy all tools at their disposal to prevent virtual currency mixers.”

Sinbad couldn’t be reached for comment. A notice on its website said: “This service has been seized as part of a coordinated law-enforcement action” by the U.S. government.

The designation follows a string of U.S. sanctions and enforcement actions against virtual currency mixers and exchanges, including Binance (see 2311210076 and 2311280032), Tornado Cash (see 2311200017), Poloniex (see 2305010059) and Kraken (see 2211280048).