The U.S. sanctioned a cryptocurrency exchange service on Friday as part of a broader effort to crack down on North Korea’s practice of using hackers to steal government money.
The sanctions, brought against the company Blender.io, mark the first time that the United States Treasury Department has taken measures against what is known in the cryptocurrency industry as a blender, a lucrative service that allows users to move cryptography from one account to another without leaving a clear trail.
The Treasury reported in a statement that North Korea used Blender.io to launder more than $20.5 million of cryptocurrency that he would have flown in the online game Axie Infinity in March. Hackers stole over 600 million dollars in cryptocurrency from the owner of the game.
Blender.io failed to respond immediately to the email request for comment. Its website wasn’t accessible on Friday.