Three individuals have recently been charged with money laundering offenses in connection with popular cryptocurrency mixers. Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov, all from Russia, were indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in operating the Blender.io and Sinbad.io services.
These two platforms were sanctioned by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) after it was discovered that they were used by ransomware actors and North Korean hackers to launder stolen cryptocurrency funds. Blender.io was active from 2018 to 2022, boasting a “No Logs Policy” and guaranteeing to erase any trace of user transactions. Shortly after its closure, Sinbad.io emerged on the scene, only to be shut down on November 27, 2023, following law enforcement action.
According to research from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, Sinbad.io was likely created to evade OFAC sanctions imposed on Blender.io. The platform was used to launder funds stolen from the $100 million Horizon heist and subsequently cleaned tens of millions in stolen cryptocurrency for North Korea.
Blender.io, along with another mixer called Tornado Cash, is believed to have helped North Korean threat actors launder $475 million from their attack on Axie Infinity, funds that were likely funneled into the country’s weapons programs.
Ostapenko, aged 55, faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Oleynik, aged 44, and Tarasov, aged 32, are charged with similar offenses. While Ostapenko and Oleynik were apprehended on December 1, 2024, Tarasov remains at large.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent Wible, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, emphasized the severity of the defendants’ actions, stating that by operating these mixers, they facilitated state-sponsored hacking groups and cybercriminals in profiting from activities that threatened public safety and national security. The indictment and arrests highlight the importance of international collaborations in combatting cybercrime.
In a similar case in November 2024, a dual Russian-Swedish national was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for running the Bitcoin Fog crypto mixer between 2011 and 2021.
The crackdown on these cryptocurrency mixers underscores the ongoing efforts to prevent illicit activities in the digital asset space and hold accountable those who enable money laundering through such platforms.