Blender, which was blacklisted by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for assisting North Korea in washing looted cryptocurrencies, has reportedly been reintroduced as Sinbad, according to blockchain forensics company Elliptic.
The UK-headquartered company stated in a blog article that the freshly re-launched mixer was used to wash approximately $100 million in bitcoin (BTC) stolen by the cybergang Lazarus. Analysts think Sinbad was started during the beginning of October 2022 after the mixing console address got bitcoin from a wallet affiliated with Blender’s controller. “The on-chain style of activity for both mixers, such as the precise features of activities and the usage of many other services to conceal their operations, is very much comparable,” explains Elliptic.
Analysts stated that Sinbad, similar to Blender, has a “obvious connection to Russia” with Russian-language assistance and webpages. The blockchain company believes that OFAC may soon attempt to apply more prohibitions on Sinbad, as US officials strive to shut down any North Korea-linked fraudulent activity on the cryptocurrency market.
