Blender.io
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anchored·5cSoyy…ptwhSummary
Blender.io was a Bitcoin mixing service that operated from approximately 2018 to 2022, processing over $500 million in Bitcoin before being shut down. On May 6, 2022, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated it as a Specially Designated National, marking the first time a virtual currency mixer had ever been sanctioned by the United States government. The service was designated for its role in laundering over $20.5 million in proceeds from North Korea's Lazarus Group following the $620 million Ronin Network hack, as well as for processing funds tied to Russian ransomware groups and the Hydra darknet market.
Connected Entities
6 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
- Axie Infinity→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Blender.io→mentioned with→Bitcoin(80%)
- Blender.io→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- Blender.io→mentioned with→Axie Infinity(80%)
- Blender.io→mentioned with→Ronin Network(80%)
- Axie Infinity→mentioned with→Ronin Network(80%)
- Blender.io→mentioned with→North Korea Lazarus Group — H1 2026 Systematic Crypto Theft Campaign(80%)
- North Korea Lazarus Group — H1 2026 Systematic Crypto Theft Campaign→mentioned with→Axie Infinity(80%)
- Ronin Network→mentioned with→North Korea Lazarus Group — H1 2026 Systematic Crypto Theft Campaign(80%)
- + 5 more
Timeline(10 events)
2017
Blender.io established as a Bitcoin mixing service; exact launch date not publicly confirmed but referenced as circa 2017 by U.S. Treasury.
23 March 2022
Lazarus Group executes the Ronin Network hack, stealing approximately $620 million in cryptocurrency from the Axie Infinity bridge.
29 March 2022
Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity developer) and Ronin Network publicly disclose the breach, six days after the theft occurred.
6 May 2022
OFAC designates Blender.io as a Specially Designated National, the first-ever sanctions action against a virtual currency mixer. 45 Bitcoin addresses linked to Blender.io are added to the SDN list.
8 August 2022
OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash, the Ethereum-based mixer, following the Blender.io precedent.
October 2022
Blender.io ceases operations; approximate shutdown date based on DOJ indictment stating the service operated from approximately 2018 to 2022.
13 February 2023
Elliptic publishes analysis concluding that Sinbad.io is a relaunch of Blender.io operated by the same individuals, based on on-chain transaction analysis.
29 November 2023
OFAC sanctions Sinbad.io as the successor to Blender.io and the Lazarus Group's preferred mixing service. Law enforcement in the Netherlands and Finland seize Sinbad.io's servers.
December 2024
Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko and Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, alleged Russian operators of Blender.io and Sinbad.io, are arrested.
7 January 2025
Federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returns indictments against Ostapenko, Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov for conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating unlicensed money transmitting businesses. Tarasov remains at large.
Decision Log
- slot 423210376 · hash D1zDaRWvYSNnwLQ3GHEw2DwV662PBbHmm78dSG8rg8Y5
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 decision). 14 of 15 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/30/2026, 6:24:58 PM
last updated: 8/29/2026, 1:33:34 AM
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