The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned multiple companies and individuals accused of using stablecoins to help Russia skirt international sanctions tied to its war in Ukraine on Aug. 14.

The designations target both Russian-linked businesses and foreign intermediaries alleged to have facilitated large-scale cross-border transactions for sanctioned entities.

The move highlights OFAC’s growing focus on stablecoins, which regulators say have become a preferred tool for sanctions evasion due to their speed, global reach, and relatively low transaction costs compared to traditional banking.

High volume ruble-backed transfers

A7 LLC, the creator of the ruble-backed A7A5 stablecoin, was singled out for its reported role in transferring about $1 billion daily, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

A7 and its subsidiaries, A71 and A7 Agent, are majority-owned by Ilan Shor, who was convicted in 2017 for his role in the theft of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks, and Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank (PSB), which is a sanctioned entity due to its role in financing Russia’s defense sector.

Both Shor and PSB have been accused of undermining democratic processes abroad, including alleged vote-buying in Moldova’s 2024 elections.

Old Vector LLC, based in Kyrgyzstan, serves as the issuer of the A7A5 token. While Kyrgyzstan maintains a permissive regulatory framework for crypto issuers, U.S. officials allege the company’s activities were integral to Russia’s sanctions evasion network.

Platforms linked to sanctioned entities

The Treasury also targeted entities tied to Sergey Mendeleev, co-founder of the sanctioned Garantex crypto exchange, which was used to move illicit funds, including via Tether’s stablecoin USDT.

Garantex was dismantled with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, which froze $26 million in USDT with Tether’s help.

Mendeleev is also behind the “Cryptorouble” (RUBT) stablecoin and Exved, a cross-border payments platform designed for Russian exporters and importers operating under sanctions pressure.

Exved reportedly uses USDT to obscure Russian business ties in transactions worth tens of billions of rubles each month. Technical services to Exved are provided by Indefi Smartbank, backed by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev.

Kyrgyzstan-based Grinex, described by Elliptic as Garantex’s successor, was also sanctioned for facilitating trades in A7A5 and USDT.

The action reflects OFAC’s increasing scrutiny of cryptocurrency in sanctions enforcement. In recent years, the agency has expanded its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list to include a growing number of digital asset addresses, enabling exchanges, payment processors, and financial institutions to block transactions linked to sanctioned actors.

Elliptic said it has updated its blockchain monitoring tools so clients can detect and block any transactions tied to the sanctioned wallets and entities. Regulators have signaled they will continue targeting stablecoin-based systems that bypass the traditional financial sector, viewing them as a growing threat to sanctions compliance.

Mentioned in this article

The US government can still retry Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on counts of money laundering and violating sanctions due to a hung jury, according to attorneys.

“The Department of Justice (DOJ) will decide in the coming days if it wants to retry those charges in a new trial,” Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at venture capital firm Variant Fund, wrote on X.

Storm was convicted on one felony count for his involvement with Tornado Cash on Wednesday. The jury found him guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.

However, jury members did not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions.

Attorney Aaron Brogan told Cointelegraph that Storm’s verdict still carries broader legal implication for decentralized protocols.

“The problem with this broad application of federal money transmitter law is that, frankly, many in DeFi worry they could apply as strongly to them as to Tornado Cash. And while the government probably won’t bring charges against all of DeFi, the broad exposure gives them a powerful stick in any negotiations.”

The case’s potential for lasting implications has drawn close attention from the crypto industry and privacy advocates. Attorneys say the precedent-setting trial is critical for digital privacy and could have a significant impact on open-source software developers in the United States.

Related: SEC’s Peirce defends transaction privacy as Tornado Cash verdict looms

Attorneys react to the partial verdict

The US can still bring Roman Storm back to court on the unresolved charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions. The decision would depend on several factors, including the likelihood of securing a conviction in a second trial.

“If the Trump administration wants the USA to be the crypto capital of the world, then the DOJ must not be allowed to retry the two deadlocked charges,” Chervinsky said.

Chervinsky described the partial verdict as “a sad day for DeFi,” warning that section 1960 under the US Code, which prosecutors used to charge Storm with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, represents an existential threat to decentralized finance applications.

“All in all, this leads to a pretty depressing conclusion,” attorney Zack Shapiro wrote on X, but said that it was good the “draconian” prison sentences for the money laundering charges were off the table for now.

I think it’s reasonable to conclude that the government might not retry the mistried counts of money laundering given the political posturing

A US court overturned the Tornado Cash sanctions in January 2025, handing decentralized crypto and privacy-preserving protocols a major legal victory.

The sanctions were imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022, accusing the crypto mixing service of money laundering.

DOJ officials claimed the Tornado Cash protocol helped launder over $7 billion in crypto between 2019 and 2022 and was instrumental to North Korean state-sanctioned hackers laundering funds stolen through hacking.

Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixers

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-doj-could-still-pursue-money-laundering-sanctions-charges-against-roman-storm/feed/ 0 51860 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/tiktok-influencer-sentenced-to-8-5-years-for-aiding-north-korean-it-sanctions-evasion-scheme/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/tiktok-influencer-sentenced-to-8-5-years-for-aiding-north-korean-it-sanctions-evasion-scheme/#respond Fri, 25 Jul 2025 12:25:01 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/tiktok-influencer-sentenced-to-8-5-years-for-aiding-north-korean-it-sanctions-evasion-scheme/

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

About Author

Amin Ayan is a crypto journalist with over four years of experience in the industry. He has contributed to leading publications such as Cryptonews, Investing.com, 99Bitcoins, and 24/7 Wall St. He has…

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July 25, 2025

An Arizona-based TikTok influencer has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for her role in a North Korean plot to infiltrate the U.S. tech workforce and fund the regime’s weapons program.

Christina Marie Chapman, who gained popularity online for her freelance lifestyle content, was convicted in Washington, D.C. on charges of wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.

In addition to prison time, Chapman was ordered to forfeit over $284,000 and pay restitution of $176,850. She will also serve three years of supervised release.

TikToker Ran ‘Laptop Farm’ to Help North Korean IT Workers Pose as US Employees

According to prosecutors, Chapman operated a “laptop farm” from her home, allowing North Korean IT workers to remotely access U.S.-based networks while appearing to be physically located inside the country.

Between 2020 and her arrest, she helped operatives obtain remote roles at more than 300 American companies, including Fortune 500 firms, a major television network, and a leading aerospace manufacturer.

“Even an adversary as sophisticated as the North Korean government can’t succeed without the assistance of willing U.S. citizens like Christina Chapman,” said Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.

US authorities say North Korea has built a global network of IT operatives who use fake identities and proxy networks to secure jobs and channel funds to the regime.

Chapman’s activities helped facilitate these efforts by setting up U.S.-based internet access, laundering wages through personal bank accounts, and shipping laptops overseas, including multiple devices sent to a Chinese city near North Korea.

Investigators seized more than 90 laptops from her residence and discovered she had sent 49 more abroad.

The wages earned by the North Korean agents were misreported to the US tax and social security agencies under stolen or borrowed American identities.

The crypto sector remains a key target in this operation. According to Chainalysis, North Korean-linked hackers stole $1.34 billion in cryptocurrency in 2024 alone, up 21% from the previous year.

Cybersecurity experts say North Korean job seekers are increasingly sophisticated, often hiring European actors to front video interviews while using VPNs and proxy IPs to conceal their locations.

North Korea Linked to Major Crypto Hacks

North Korea has also been linked to several other major crypto heists, including those targeting Bybit, the Ronin Bridge, Harmony, and various DeFi platforms.

Global law enforcement is responding. The U.S. Department of Justice recently moved to seize over $7.7 million in digital assets tied to North Korean IT workers embedded in blockchain firms.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and South Korea signed a bilateral agreement in 2023 to enhance their technical capabilities in detecting and countering DPRK cyber operations.

North Korean cyber strategies continue to evolve. In April, Lazarus-linked operatives reportedly set up US-based shell companies to distribute malware to crypto developers.

Kraken recently thwarted an infiltration attempt by a suspected North Korean posing as a job candidate.

The US Treasury has sanctioned two people and four entities involved in what it says was a North Korea-run IT worker ring that would infiltrate crypto companies, aiming to exploit them.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Tuesday that it sanctioned the North Korea-based Song Kum Hyok for allegedly stealing US citizens’ information to use as aliases and giving it to hired foreign IT workers who would seek employment at US companies.

OFAC also sanctioned the Russian national Gayk Asatryan for allegedly using his companies to employ dozens of North Korean IT workers under long-term agreements he signed with North Korean trading firms starting in 2024.

A growing number of fraudulent tech workers with ties to North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), have been expanding their infiltration operations, with an April report from Google finding that the infrastructure for the schemes has spread worldwide.

“Treasury remains committed to using all available tools to disrupt the Kim regime’s efforts to circumvent sanctions through its digital asset theft, attempted impersonation of Americans, and malicious cyber-attacks,” said Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender.

Thousands of IT workers target wealthier countries to fund missile program

OFAC said North Korea aims to generate revenue for its ballistic missile programs by deploying a thousands-strong workforce of highly skilled IT workers all over the world, the bulk of which are located in China and Russia.

The workforce mainly targets employers located in wealthier countries and uses various mainstream and industry-specific networking platforms, OFAC said.

The sanctions mean all US assets connected to Asatryan, Song, and the four Russian entities also named are frozen. It’s also now illegal for people in the US to conduct any financial transactions or have business dealings with them under the threat of civil and criminal penalties.

North Korea shifting away from hacks

North Korea has been notorious for its high-profile hacks through teams such as the Lazarus Group, and is responsible for some of the largest crypto hacks ever recorded, such as the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit in February.

However, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs said on Tuesday that they are starting to shift tactics. 

“While exchange breaches remain significant, DPRK-linked operations are increasingly shifting toward deception-based revenue generation, including IT worker infiltration,” the firm said.

TRM Labs estimates North Korea-aligned bad actors are responsible for $1.6 billion of the $2.1 billion stolen across 75 crypto hacks and exploits in the first half of 2025.

US cracks down on North Korean IT workers

US authorities have been increasingly cracking down on fraudulent North Korean IT worker schemes this year.

Related: North Korea targets crypto workers with new info-stealing malware

On June 30, four North Korean nationals were charged with wire fraud and money laundering after posing as remote workers at US and Serbian blockchain companies.

Meanwhile, on June 5, the US Department of Justice said it was trying to seize $7.74 million in frozen crypto allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using fake identities and working at blockchain firms as remote contractors.  

Magazine: North Korea crypto hackers tap ChatGPT, Malaysia road money siphoned: Asia Express

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-sanctions-north-korean-tech-worker-crew-over-crypto-thefts/feed/ 0 46570 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/enhanced-sanctions-compliance-building-for-scale-and-trust/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/enhanced-sanctions-compliance-building-for-scale-and-trust/#respond Sun, 06 Jul 2025 14:42:22 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/enhanced-sanctions-compliance-building-for-scale-and-trust/

At Kraken, we are committed to building a secure and reliable platform for our clients. Over the past few years, we have significantly strengthened our global compliance framework. We invest deeply in the people, processes and systems that keep our platform safe.

We recently reached an important milestone on that journey. This concludes a multi-year effort to strengthen the sanctions compliance program across the board. This achievement reflects not only the continued engagement with regulators (such as finalizing commitments over the past few years), but also the continued advances in Kraken’s approach to risk, surveillance and operational excellence.

As part of ongoing work with US regulators, Kraken recently completed its third final certification of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) (OFAC).

Companywide efforts towards common goals

What began as an initiative to enhance sanctions control is a comprehensive effort to build one of the industry’s most robust, scalable and future compliance programs.

What Kraken will enhance compliance:

• GEOIP Firewall and VPN Screening
  A sophisticated tool that actively restricts unauthorized access based on geographical and network indicators.
• A comprehensive screening
  End-to-end product, client, and transaction-level screening ensures real-time risk detection.
• Over 100 Embedded Internal Controls
  Automatic checks and balances built into every tier of Kraken’s infrastructure.
• Upgraded policies, procedures, and processes
  An overview redesign of how compliance is approached across teams and workflows.
• Strict risk assessment, auditing, training
  Regular assessments and company-wide education to sharply align our defenses.
• Sanctions are controlled at all layers
  Overall protection measures integrated throughout Kraken’s architecture.
• Regulatory benchmarks and licensing expansions
  Tools and standards that allow for smoother licensing, and faster time to market globally.
• Active engagement with regulatory authorities
  Open and constructive dialogue that helps shape thoughtful and effective regulations.
• Strengthening due diligence for investors, M&As and product launches
  Strategic compliance is integrated into the way we grow.

All of these upgrades are a step towards our bigger goal. It is to make Kraken the most trusted and secure venue for code. Together, these features help protect clients, strengthen trust and strengthen Kraken’s role as a responsible industry leader.

Built for scale designed for reliability

Strong compliance is not just a risk reduction, but a strategic advantage. With these improvements, Kraken is ideally positioned below:

• Expand our business to new countries and expand with new products
• Promote stronger banking relationships
• Navigate the regulatory environment with confidence
• Mitigate audit and operational risks
• Supports faster and safer growth across the market

The compliance infrastructure we build is scalable, resilient, dynamic, and designed to not only meet today’s demands, but also predict tomorrow’s demands. We are proud of how far we have come and are even more excited about where we are heading. Because at Kraken, we don’t just build responsibly. It’s how we can lead the way, create a safer industrial ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of crypto.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, officially opened its platform to users in Syria. The move comes a month after the US and the European Union (EU) lifted a long-standing economic sanctions on the Syria.

Now Syria is no longer classified as a prohibited country for Binance. Can this be considered a turning point for the country’s access to global financial markets.

According to a 12 June 2025 Bloomberg report, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng said in a statement, “After years of exclusion, Syrians now have the chance to build, invest, and connect.” According to the report, crypto firms are drawn to the favourable regulations in Syria now.

Exciting news for our Syrian-based community: You can now join Binance!

We believe financial freedom should be accessible to everyone. And now, with US sanctions lifted, we’re excited to announce that Syrian residents can finally join our 270 M+ global users shaping the future… pic.twitter.com/Kq7TVKCK3F

— Binance MENA (@BinanceArabic) June 12, 2025

“Syria’s new leaders are aiming to make rapid progress in improving public services, including internet connectivity, in the country after 14 years of civil war and decades of Western sanctions,” said a 12 June 2025 Reuters report.

DISCOVER: 20+ Next Crypto to Explode in 2025 

Syria Can Now Participate In Digital Asset Economy

“For years, people in Syria have watched the crypto world evolve, unable to participate. Not by choice, but by circumstance,” said Binance in a press release. Syria’s population sits at around 24 million, with an estimated 8 to 15 million more living abroad.

Interestingly, the country ranked among the top 10 countries globally for crypto-related search activity as recently as 2021.

Binance launches crypto trading in Syria after US/EU sanctions eased! Users can trade $BTC, $XRP, $DOGE, and more. KYC required for services. New market for crypto adoption!

Read the full article https://t.co/vrEBwpG5TT

— Nova – {News} AI Agent (@ChainGPTAINews) June 12, 2025

https://twitter.com/DrCrypto__X/status/1933084398393397516

However, in compliance with applicable sanctions, platforms like Binance previously did not serve users in Syria. 

“Even as crypto became a lifeline for people facing inflation or relying on cross-border remittances, access remained out of reach. That changes today,” Binance added. 

Binance CEO Richard Teng took to X to say, “Welcome, Syria! You can now join Binance and be part of our global crypto community.”

DISCOVER: 9 Best Crypto Presales to Invest in June 2025 – Top Token Presales

Binance Opens Trading In Syria After US, EU Lift Sanctions

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has officially launched its platform for Syrian users. The move comes a month after the US and the European Union lifted long-standing economic sanctions on Syria.

Currently, Syria is no longer classified as a prohibitive country of vinance. This could be seen as a turning point in access to the country’s global financial markets.

According to a Bloomberg report on June 12, 2025, Binance CEO Richard Tenn said in a statement that “After years of exclusion, Syrians now have construction, investment and connections.” Crypto companies are currently attracted to Syria’s favorable regulations, according to the report.

Exciting news for Syria-based communities: Join Binance!

We believe that financial freedom should be accessible to everyone. And now, once US sanctions are lifted, we look forward to announce that Syrian residents will ultimately be able to shape the future to 270 M+ global users… pic.twitter.com/kq7tvkck3f

– Binance Mena (@binancearabic) June 12, 2025

“After 14 years of civil war and decades of Western sanctions, Syrian new leaders aim to rapidly advance improvements in public services, including internet connections within the country,” a Reuters report on June 12, 2025 said.

Discover: 20+ Next Cryptocurrency to Explode in 2025

Syria is now able to participate in the digital asset economy

“For years, the Syrian people have not been able to participate in the crypto world as they evolved. Not by choice, but by circumstances,” Binance said. Syria has a population of approximately 24 million, with an estimated 8-15 million living abroad.

Interestingly, tHis country was ranked in the top ten countries in the world for crypto-related search activities, as recently as in 2021.

Binance has launched crypto trading in Syria after US/EU sanctions have been eased! Users can trade $ BTC, $ xrp, $dogeand more. KYC required for service. A new market for crypto adoption!

Please read the entire article

-nova- {news} awsent (@Chagingptaines) June 12, 2025

https://twitter.com/drcrypto__x/status/1933084398393397516

However, platforms like Binance previously did not serve Syrian users due to compliance with applicable sanctions.

“Even if cryptos became a lifeline for people facing inflation or relying on cross-border remittances, access remained out of reach. That changes today,” added Binance.

Binance CEO Richard Teng said “” for X.Welcome, Syria! You can now participate Binance Become a part of the global crypto community. ”

Discover: 9 9 Best Crypto Pre-Sales for Investing in June 2025 – Top Token Pre-Cels

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