What is Blender Io?

Blender.io is a cryptocurrency mixer that was established in 2017. In 2022, it was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for allegedly aiding the Lazarus Group, a hacking group associated with the government of North Korea.

What does Blender stand for?

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Blender.io (Blender), which is used by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to support its malicious cyber activities and money-laundering of stolen virtual currency.

Why was a cryptocurrency mixer sanctioned in 2022?

In 2022, it was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury for allegedly aiding the Lazarus Group, a hacking group associated with the government of North Korea. The Treasury Department stated that this was the first sanction that they had imposed on a cryptocurrency mixer.

Did Blender launder money for ransomware?

The US Treasury also alleges that Blender laundered money for ransomware organizations like Conti, Trickbot, and Sodinokibi (aka REvil). Now that it’s sanctioned, it won’t be able to access any of its funds that were stored within the US, nor can it do transactions with American companies or citizens.