The U.S. Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management (OFAC) has sanctioned Cryptex and PM2BTC, two cryptocurrency exchanges that laundered funds from Russian ransomware gangs and different cybercrime teams.
Cryptex (which used the cryptex[.]web area) reportedly supplies monetary companies to cybercriminals and laundered over $51 million in funds linked to ransomware assaults.
“Cryptex can also be related to over $720 million in transactions to companies often utilized by Russia-based ransomware actors and cybercriminals, together with fraud retailers, mixing companies, exchanges missing KYC applications, and OFAC-designated digital forex trade Garantex,” the Treasury mentioned.
PM2BTC (who used the now-seized pm2btc[.]me area) is accused of laundering digital forex related to ransomware and different illicit Russian actions. It allegedly facilitates currency-to-ruble conversions by U.S.-sanctioned monetary establishments for Russian menace actors whereas failing to keep up anti-money laundering safeguards.
The Treasury Division linked the crypto exchanges to Sergey Sergeevich Ivanov (also called Taleon), a Russian cash launderer believed to have helped course of a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} for ransomware actors, preliminary entry brokers, darknet market distributors, and numerous different menace actors during the last twenty years.
“By way of numerous fee processing companies, together with one which does enterprise underneath the identify ‘UAPS,’ Ivanov has served because the fee processor for numerous fraud retailers, together with OFAC-designated Genesis Market, whose web site was taken down by regulation enforcement in 2023,” the Treasury added.
The U.S. Division of State additionally affords a reward of as much as $10 million by its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for any info that would assist arrest or convict Ivanov and Timur Shakhmametov, the operator of Jokers Stash, one of many largest and most worthwhile marketplaces for stolen bank card information and personally identifiable info.
These actions are a part of a broader coordinated worldwide effort involving U.S. authorities companies and overseas regulation enforcement, in collaboration with Operation Endgame, to disrupt Russian cybercrime companies and dismantle monetary enablers of transnational organized cybercrime.
Because of as we speak’s sanction, U.S. residents and organizations are prohibited from partaking in transactions with Ivanov, PM2BTC, or Cryptex. Any U.S.-based belongings tied to them will likely be frozen, and U.S. monetary establishments or overseas entities transacting with them will even face penalties.
“The USA and our worldwide companions stay resolute in our dedication to forestall cybercrime facilitators like PM2BTC and Cryptex from working with impunity,” mentioned Bradley T. Smith, Performing Beneath Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Monetary Intelligence.
“Treasury, in shut coordination with our allies and companions, will proceed to make use of all instruments and authorities to disrupt the networks that search to leverage the digital belongings ecosystem to facilitate their illicit actions.”
OFAC has beforehand sanctioned the Bitpapa, TOEP, and Crypto Explorer crypto exchanges in March 2024 and the Moscow-based cryptocurrency trade Garantex in April 2022 for working with OFAC-designated Russian darkish net markets and banks.
It additionally designated the Sinbad, Twister Money, and Blender.io cryptocurrency mixing companies for laundering cash for the North Korean Lazarus hacking group.
