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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"4d6ea7fe-44e5-4b0e-905d-c335ce44e25e","kind":"publish","page_slug":"sinbad-io","published_at":"2026-05-30T18:29:37.957Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Sinbad.io","sections":[{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1933","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/11/29/crypto-mixer-sanctioned-by-us-treasury-for-north-korea-allegations-as-fbi-and-finish-police-seize-website","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/29/feds-seize-sinbad-crypto-mixer-allegedly-used-by-north-korean-hackers/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-mixer-sinbad-sactioned-north-korean-laundering/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1933","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/us-treasury-sanctions-north-koreas-preferred-mixer-sinbad","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-mixer-sinbad-sactioned-north-korean-laundering/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/analysis/35-million-atomic-wallet-hacker-funnels-crypto-to-north-korea-s-favored-mixer","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://beincrypto.com/atomic-wallet-hack-mixer-north-koreas-lazarus-group/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/sinbad-crypto-mixer-flagged-by-elliptic-sanctioned-and-seized","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.elliptic.co/blog/analysis/has-a-sanctioned-bitcoin-mixer-been-resurrected-to-aid-north-korea-s-lazarus-group","type":"other","url":""},{"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://decrypt.co/121222/new-sinbad-bitcoin-mixer-is-sanctioned-blender","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"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":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/10/us-government-charges-operators-of-crypto-mixing-service-used-by-north-korea-and-ransomware-gangs/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/01/13/alleged-blender-sinbad-cryptomixer-operators-arrested-indicted/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://decrypt.co/300615/russian-nationals-indicted-over-blender-io-and-sinbad-io-coin-mixers","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1933","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/us-charges-operators-of-cryptomixers-linked-to-ransomware-gangs/","type":"other","url":""},{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.whitecollarlawblog.com/2023/12/ofac-sanctions-crypto-mixer-following-allegations-of-laundering-funds-to-north-korea/","type":"other","url":""}]},{"content":"","heading":"","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/us-treasury-sanctions-north-koreas-preferred-mixer-sinbad","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://www.theregister.com/2023/02/14/blender_crypto_mixer_sinbad","type":"other","url":""}]}],"sources_used":[],"summary":"Sinbad.io was a Bitcoin mixing service that operated from October 2022 until its seizure by U.S., Dutch, and Finnish law enforcement in November 2023. OFAC designated it a key money-laundering tool of North Korea's Lazarus Group, which used it to launder proceeds from multiple major crypto hacks including Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge and Atomic Wallet. On-chain analytics firms assessed it to be highly likely a rebranding of Blender.io, the first crypto mixer ever sanctioned by OFAC.","timeline":[{"date":"2022-04-01","event":"Blender.io ceases operations, approximately one month before OFAC sanctions it.","source":""},{"date":"2022-05-06","event":"OFAC sanctions Blender.io, the first cryptocurrency mixer ever designated by the U.S. government, for laundering North Korean Lazarus Group funds from the Ronin Bridge hack.","source":""},{"date":"2022-10-01","event":"Sinbad.io begins advertising and accepting users as a Bitcoin mixing service.","source":""},{"date":"2023-02-13","event":"Elliptic publishes analysis concluding Sinbad is 'highly likely' a rebranding of the sanctioned Blender.io mixer, based on on-chain Bitcoin transaction tracing linking both services to the same operator wallet.","source":""},{"date":"2023-06-01","event":"Lazarus Group hacks Atomic Wallet, stealing approximately $100 million; $35 million of the proceeds are subsequently traced to Sinbad.io by Elliptic.","source":""},{"date":"2023-11-29","event":"OFAC designates Sinbad.io under E.O. 13722 and E.O. 13694, adding the service to the SDN List. Simultaneous multinational law enforcement operation by the FBI, Dutch FIOD, and Finnish National Bureau of Investigation seizes Sinbad's web infrastructure and servers.","source":""},{"date":"2024-12-01","event":"Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko and Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, two Russian nationals alleged to be Blender/Sinbad operators, are arrested.","source":""},{"date":"2025-01-07","event":"A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returns an indictment against Ostapenko, Oleynik, and a third defendant, Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov, on counts of money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Tarasov remains at large.","source":""},{"date":"2025-01-10","event":"U.S. Department of Justice publicly announces the indictment against the three alleged Blender.io and Sinbad.io operators.","source":""}]},"v":1}