Uncovering Coin Mixer Rebrand with Elliptic
The currency mixer known as Blender may have received a branding and may still be used by North Korean entities, claims a research from analytics company Elliptic on February 13. According to the research, even though Blender stopped operating in April 2022, it is thought to have changed its name to “Sinbad.”
Proof of Rebranding
The transfer of $22 million in early Bitcoin transactions from Blender’s operator to Sinbad, as well as parallels in the two services’ on-chain behavior and website features, are just a few of the evidence Elliptic uses to back its rebranding argument.
Lazarus Group links
The Lazarus Group attacked Ronin Bridge severely in March 2022, stealing more than $540 million as a consequence. According to Elliptic, Lazarus attempted to recoup the stolen money by using Blender. Furthermore, Lazarus is thought to have utilized Sinbad to launder approximately $100 million taken from Horizon and other targets when it went online in October 2022.
Service Flag for Compliance
Both Blender and Sinbad addresses have previously been highlighted in Elliptic’s compliance services, signaling the possibility of equivalent fines. Coin mixers are used for illegal operations, but they may also be used for legal ones like private transactions.