The U.S. Treasury at this time sanctioned two cryptocurrency addresses linked to a Russian arms seller.
In a Wednesday assertion, the Treasury’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC) said it had blacklisted Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses utilized by Jonatan Zimenkov, the son of Igor Vladimirovich Zimenkov.
Based on the OFAC, father and son Igor and Jonatan Zimenkov have labored collectively to run a sanctions evasion community which has offered a Russian firm with “high-technology units” following the invasion of Ukraine final yr.
“Igor Zimenkov has labored carefully together with his son Jonatan Zimenkov and a broad community of people and entities to allow Russian protection gross sales to third-country governments,” Wednesday’s launch mentioned.
It added that each Igor and Jonatan Zimenkov have been in contact with sanctioned Russian protection companies. “The Zimenkov community has used entrance firms to funnel cash inside the community whereas trying to keep up a lawful look,” the OFAC mentioned.
The 2 sanctioned Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses should not presently holding any belongings, blockchain information exhibits.
The OFAC has sanctioned cryptocurrency addresses and merchandise earlier than. Maybe essentially the most high-profile case was final yr, when it banned U.S. residents from utilizing Twister Money, claiming that criminals had been utilizing it to launder soiled funds.
Twister Money is a “coin mixer” app. It permits individuals to anonymously ship and obtain Ethereum.
The OFAC claims the app has been utilized by North Korea state-sponsored hacking group Lazarus Group as a go-to instrument for obscuring stolen funds.
However the ban has angered many within the crypto neighborhood and even some U.S. politicians, comparable to Rep. Tom Emmer, who declare that privateness is a proper and that blacklisting an app punishes the mistaken individuals.
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