The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has modified the sanctions imposed on cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, as well as including two individuals involved in “transport and procurement activities” for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on its list of Specially Designated Nationals.
In a November 8 announcement, the Treasury Department said it had “simultaneously delisted and redesigned” Tornado Cash, as well as taking into account activities by North Korean nationals Ri Sok and Yan Zhiyong in its sanctions base. . The government department reiterated its claims that the cryptocurrency mixer was implicated in laundering $455 million in cryptocurrency stolen by the North Korean-affiliated Lazarus Group.
Tornado Cash’s new designation essentially supersedes Treasury’s actions against the cryptocurrency mixer in August, establishing penalties for its role in “enabling malicious cyber activity, which ultimately supports the program.” [de armas de destrucción masiva] of the DPRK”. The original sanctions included the Lazarus Group, but showed no connection to North Korea’s nuclear program.
“Today’s sanctions action targets two key nodes in the DPRK’s weapons programs: its growing reliance on illicit activities, including cybercrime, to generate revenue, and its ability to acquire and transport goods in support of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” said Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
Many in the cryptocurrency space have been embroiled in lawsuits against the US Treasury in the wake of the sanctions against the mixer. A group of investors backed by US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase took legal action in September, claiming that Treasury sanctions on 44 USD Coin (USDC) and Ether (ETH) addresses connected to Tornado Cash “were not in accordance with the law.” . The Cryptocurrency Advocacy Group Coin Center also filed a lawsuit against the government department in October, saying the mixer was a “privacy tool beyond anyone’s control”.
North Korea has fired several missiles at northern Japan in the past month, though none have hit the island nation or directly caused casualties. The United States has 7 bases from different military branches on the Japanese mainland.
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