North Korean crypto wallets sanctioned; Binance says it helped Treasury seize $4.4M

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned several addresses linked to North Korean cybercrime on May 23.

Six wallets sanctioned

OFAC sanctioned six crypto addresses belonging to North Korean national Kim Sang Man, who was involved in cyber activities and fraudulent IT worker job placements that generated revenue for North Korea’s government and weapons programs.

The list of sanctioned addresses includes two Bitcoin (BTC) addresses, two Ethereum (ETH) addresses, one Tether (USDT) address, and one USDC address.

OFAC also sanctioned four organizations related to Kim and the scheme, including the Chinyong Information Technology Cooperation Company.

OFAC said that Kim has received more than $2 million of crypto from IT workers as recently as 2021. It did not state whether this represents all relevant funds.

Binance helped seize $4.4M

Binance separately announced that it helped the U.S. Treasury seize $4.4 million linked to involved individuals by taking action against the relevant accounts.

Binance said that company members acted in compliance with warrants served. It noted that blockchain ledgers provide a “tremendous amount of transparency,” which allows employees to provide relevant information to law enforcement.

OFAC did not mention Binance’s assistance in its announcement today.

In past reports, Binance suggested that it had frozen more than $5 million related to North Korean crypto crime, though it appears that this action was related to a separate $600 million attack on the Axie Infinity and Ronin Network projects.

Binance is emphasizing its commitment to law enforcement and compliance amidst complaints from U.S. regulators and private journalists alike.

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