This was stated in an official statement released by the US agency on Friday, Ukrinform reported.

“Today, for the first time, the Treasury Department has sanctioned a virtual currency mixing mechanism,” said Brian Nelson, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

He noted that such a mechanism, called “blender” (referred to as Blender.io – ed.), which is used to hide illegal transactions “poses a threat to US national security interests”.

The Ministry of Finance has revealed that Blender.io works with the cryptocurrency platform Bitcoin and is used to hide data about the origin, purpose and counterparty of payments. Blender blends different processes before forwarding them to their final destination. Such mechanisms were originally designed to increase the confidentiality of payments, but in practice they are often used for illegal financial activities.

The US agency said that since its inception in 2017, Blender.io has helped transfer more than $500 million in bitcoin. At the same time, this resource was found to be specifically used to launder more than $20.5. million Axie Infinity. Additionally, US financial intelligence has found that Blender.io facilitates money laundering linked to Russian hacker groups. They used rogue programs like Trickbot, Conti, Ryuk, Sodinokibi, and Gandcrab.

The US Treasury Department also sanctioned four cryptocurrency “wallets” used in illegal theft and money laundering operations on Friday.

As Ukrinform reports, the US Treasury Department has repeatedly imposed sanctions on other countries, including Russia, as well as individuals and entities regarding harmful cyber activity. However, platforms for mixing virtual currencies previously were not included in the US Treasury’s restriction lists.