Audit log

Every state-changing event for Blender.io: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot taken at submission time, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-05-30 18:25:01Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchoranchored

   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 423,210,376

   sig

   5cSoyyevKxjz…UipZptwhcopyexplorer ↗

   hash

   D1zDaRWvYSNn…SG8rg8Y5copysha256 → base58

   verifying row…full verify ↗

   canonical bytes (6641 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"27598ce7-7d16-4967-83cb-87a56f94b518","kind":"publish","page_slug":"blender-io","published_at":"2026-05-30T18:25:00.971Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Blender.io","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0768","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/operators-cryptocurrency-mixers-charged-money-laundering","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blender.io","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0768","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/ofac-sanctions-virtual-asset-mixer-for-the-first-time-to-combat-north-koreas-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/perspectives-events/publications/2022/05/ofac-imposes-first-ever-sanctions-against-virtual-currency-mixer","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0768","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://therecord.media/cryptocurrency-mixer-sanctions-ofac-blendrio-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/ofac-sanctions-virtual-asset-mixer-for-the-first-time-to-combat-north-koreas-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-mixer-sanctioned-by-us-treasury-for-role-in-axie-infinity-hack","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0768","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://therecord.media/cryptocurrency-mixer-sanctions-ofac-blendrio-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.databreachtoday.co.uk/first-us-sanction-virtual-currency-mixer-blenderio-a-19038","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/02/13/sanctioned-mixer-blender-re-launched-as-sinbad-elliptic-says","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/sinbad-crypto-mixer-flagged-by-elliptic-sanctioned-and-seized","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1933","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://decrypt.co/208160/sanctioned-bitcoin-mixer-blender-relaunch-sinbad-sanctioned-again","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/operators-cryptocurrency-mixers-charged-money-laundering","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://therecord.media/russian-nationals-indicted-blender-sinbad-crypto-mixers","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.theblock.co/post/334129/alleged-blender-and-sinbad-crypto-mixer-operators-charged-in-money-laundering-case","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/perspectives-events/publications/2022/05/ofac-imposes-first-ever-sanctions-against-virtual-currency-mixer","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.moneylaunderingnews.com/2022/08/ofac-sanctions-virtual-currency-mixer-tornado-cash-and-faces-crypto-backlash/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/ofac-sanctions-virtual-asset-mixer-for-the-first-time-to-combat-north-koreas-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"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.","timeline":[{"date":"2017-01-01","event":"Blender.io established as a Bitcoin mixing service; exact launch date not publicly confirmed but referenced as circa 2017 by U.S. Treasury.","source":""},{"date":"2022-03-23","event":"Lazarus Group executes the Ronin Network hack, stealing approximately $620 million in cryptocurrency from the Axie Infinity bridge.","source":""},{"date":"2022-03-29","event":"Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity developer) and Ronin Network publicly disclose the breach, six days after the theft occurred.","source":""},{"date":"2022-05-06","event":"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.","source":""},{"date":"2022-08-08","event":"OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash, the Ethereum-based mixer, following the Blender.io precedent.","source":""},{"date":"2022-10-01","event":"Blender.io ceases operations; approximate shutdown date based on DOJ indictment stating the service operated from approximately 2018 to 2022.","source":""},{"date":"2023-02-13","event":"Elliptic publishes analysis concluding that Sinbad.io is a relaunch of Blender.io operated by the same individuals, based on on-chain transaction analysis.","source":""},{"date":"2023-11-29","event":"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.","source":""},{"date":"2024-12-01","event":"Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko and Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, alleged Russian operators of Blender.io and Sinbad.io, are arrested.","source":""},{"date":"2025-01-07","event":"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.","source":""}]},"v":1}

   Verify offline (run on your own machine)

   python -m src.verify_decision 5f68f521-975c-4d42-a63d-725e899de552copy