Representations of virtual currency are seen through broken glass in this illustration taken from the broken glass.
The United States has imposed sanctions on the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cyber crimes.
A Treasury Department official said that Tornado Cash, one of the largest mixers identified as problematic by the Treasury, has laundered more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.
The Treasury said that the Lazarus Group, a well-known North Korean government-backed hacking group that has been involved in numerous data breaches, has laundered $455 million through Tornado Cash. The Lazarus Group is under U.S. sanctions.
The United States and South Korea have said that North Korea has mobilized thousands of hackers to steal funds, including cryptocurrencies, to finance its weapons programs. North Korea denies the allegations.
The Treasury said that the money from the Tornado Cash was used to launder about $100 million after the June Harmony heist and as recently as last week in the Nomad theft.
The criminal activity continued despite requests for Tornado Cash to make changes, leading to the decision to designate the mixer.
In May, the U.S. Treasury targeted Blender, imposing sanctions for the first time on a virtual currency mixer - a software tool that pools and scrambles cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses, and said it would continue to investigate the use of mixers for illicit purposes.
Reuters could not reach Tornado Cash for comment.