OFAC announced on Tuesday that it had sanctioned North Korea-based Song Kum Hyok for purportedly stealing information from US citizens to create false identities. This information was then passed on to foreign IT workers hired to seek employment in US firms. Additionally, Russian national Gayk Asatryan was sanctioned for reportedly using his companies to employ numerous North Korean IT professionals under long-term contracts initiated with North Korean trading firms in 2024.

There has been a surge in fraudulent IT personnel with connections to North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), enhancing their infiltration operations. A report by Google in April highlighted that the infrastructure for these schemes has spread globally.

“The Treasury will continue to utilize all available resources to disrupt the Kim regime’s attempts to evade sanctions through digital asset theft, the impersonation of Americans, and malicious cyber-attacks,” stated Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender.

OFAC revealed that North Korea aims to generate revenue for its ballistic missile programs by deploying a legion of highly skilled IT workers worldwide, primarily in China and Russia. The workforce primarily targets employers in wealthier nations and utilizes a variety of mainstream and industry-specific networking platforms.

The sanctions result in the freezing of all US assets linked to Asatryan, Song, and the four sanctioned Russian entities. US citizens are now prohibited from conducting financial transactions or business dealings with these parties, under the threat of civil and criminal penalties.

North Korea, infamous for high-profile hacks such as the $1.5 billion Bybit exploit, appears to be shifting tactics according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. “DPRK-linked operations are increasingly shifting towards deception-based revenue generation, including IT worker infiltration,” the firm commented.

TRM Labs estimates that actors aligned with North Korea 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 authorities have been intensifying their crackdown on fraudulent North Korean IT worker schemes this year. 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 firms. The US Department of Justice also announced on June 5 that it was attempting to seize $7.74 million in frozen crypto allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using false identities and working as remote contractors at blockchain firms.

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The Inner City Press reported Judge Failla’s remarks on Tuesday, indicating a likely denial of a motion to discuss North Korea and the Lazarus Group hackers in the prosecutors’ case against Storm. However, she seemed willing to exclude the August 2022 sanctions, which were eventually repealed.

The sanctions under debate were initiated by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which added addresses linked to Tornado Cash to its Specially Designated Nationals list in 2022. Nonetheless, following a repeal order from a federal judge in a civil case brought by Tornado Cash users, the OFAC rescinded its stance on the crypto mixer in March.

‘The sanctions were withdrawn,’ Judge Failla stated. ‘So [Storm] has consciousness of guilt for something he was not ultimately guilty of.’

Storm was charged in August 2023 with money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. Failla is set to decide on the admissible witnesses before the commencement of Storm’s trial on Monday.

Storm’s indictment has led to significant industry figures in the crypto and blockchain sector advocating for the dismissal of the charges. Supporters argue that ‘writing code is not a crime.’ Notably, the Ethereum Foundation, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and Paradigm founder Matt Huang have donated to Storm’s legal fund.

Assuming no delays, Storm’s trial could become a landmark legal event in the crypto industry, following the conviction of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the sentencing of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky. Additionally, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is facing federal charges relating to securities fraud, commodities fraud, market manipulation, and money laundering following his extradition from Montenegro to the US.

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Until recently, Binance had enforced restrictions in Syria. With the recent policy amendments, the company now permits Syrian users to register and engage in trading.

“In line with relevant sanctions, platforms like Binance had earlier refrained from serving users in Syria,” the company mentioned. With this significant move, Binance becomes one of the first major crypto platforms to penetrate the Syrian market, enabling residents to trade in digital assets such as Bitcoin and XRP.

Binance MENA highlighted the exciting developments for its Syrian-based community, emphasizing that financial freedom should be available to all. With the lifting of US sanctions, Syrian residents can now join the 270 M+ global users shaping the future.

Syrian users can now enjoy Binance’s comprehensive suite of services, including spot trading, peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange, futures trading, and earn programs. However, users must complete Know Your Customer (KYC) checks to access these features.

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Earlier, the limited adoption of cryptocurrencies in Yemen was due to internet infrastructure issues and a lack of financial literacy among its conflict-ridden population, as indicated by a report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs on April 17.

However, as the TRM Labs report indicated, “There are increasing indications of interest and usage, primarily driven by necessity rather than speculation.”

Cryptocurrencies provide an alternative for Yemenis, offering a certain degree of financial stability in a situation where banks are either inaccessible or inoperable due to ongoing conflict.

Since September 2014, Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war between the government and the Houthi group. The US has regularly imposed sanctions on the country’s financial infrastructure to disrupt Houthi activities, with the most recent action targeting the International Bank of Yemen on April 17.

DeFi platforms comprise the majority of Yemen’s crypto-related web traffic, accounting for over 63% of observed activity. In comparison, global centralized exchanges account for 18% of crypto-related web traffic, as per TRM Labs data.

Some Yemenis also engage in peer-to-peer crypto transactions for cross-border fund transfers and remittances. As TRM Labs observed, “These interactions do not necessarily indicate high transaction volumes, but they do confirm that decentralized infrastructure can provide a necessary alternative to traditional payment methods for some people in Yemen.”

Yemen currently lacks legislation for crypto usage. However, TRM Labs postulates that escalating sanctions against the Houthi group could catalyze greater crypto adoption in Yemen.

Following the Biden administration’s reclassification of the Houthis as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in January 2024, a Yemen-based cryptocurrency exchange witnessed a 270% surge in volume, according to TRM Labs. While this eventually subsided to pre-spike levels, it experienced another increase of 223% in the three months following the US’s re-designation of the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization on January 22.

As TRM Labs noted, “Given the escalating international sanctions on the Houthis and their main supporter, Iran, the group’s use of cryptocurrency is likely to expand in scale and sophistication. As traditional financial channels increasingly tighten, decentralized digital currencies present a less traceable and less oversight-prone alternative.”

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Trade Wars to Pressure Crypto Markets till April: Analysts

Despite numerous positive crypto-specific developments, the crypto markets will remain under the shadow of global tariff fears at least until April 2, says Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen. Risk assets may lack clear direction until tariff-related issues are settled, which could occur between April and July, according to Sondergaard, potentially creating a positive market catalyst. President Trump’s reciprocal tariff rates are due to take effect on April 2, contradicting earlier statements by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that hinted at a possible delay.

Tether in Talks with Big Four for First Full Financial Audit: Report

Tether is reportedly in discussions with a Big Four auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of its asset reserve and confirm the 1:1 backing of its USDT stablecoin. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, expects the audit process to be smoother under the pro-crypto US President Donald Trump, amidst growing concerns about a possible FTX-style liquidity crisis for Tether due to its absence of third-party audits. Ardoino expressed optimism about Tether’s audit, but he refrained from naming the Big Four auditing firm—PwC, EY, Deloitte, or KPMG—with which Tether plans to collaborate.

Tornado Cash Removed from US Sanctions List

The US Treasury Department has officially removed Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer, from its sanctions list. This decision follows a January ruling by a US appeals court which indicated that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) cannot sanction Tornado’s smart contracts as they do not belong to any foreign national. The Treasury announced on March 21 that OFAC has removed several dozen Ethereum-based smart contract addresses affiliated with Tornado from its sanctions list. Tornado’s native token, Tornado Cash (TORN), surged by around 60% on this news, with a market cap of approximately $73 million and a fully diluted value of nearly $140 million, according to CoinMarketCap data.

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“Our findings indicate a direct onchain and offchain correlation between Grinex and Garantex,” the company stated in the report. They further added, “The fund-movement patterns, the use of disposable wallets, and the involvement of addresses previously linked to Garantex, provide unmistakable onchain evidence of this connection.”

Global Ledger wrapped up its investigation on March 13, stating it had discovered onchain data that showed Garantex laundered over $60 million in A7A5, a ruble-backed stablecoin, and moved them to addresses linked with Grinex.

“The burning and subsequent minting process was utilized to cleanse funds from Garantex, facilitating new coin minting from a system address with a clean slate,” the team explained.

A Garantex manager reportedly disclosed to Global Ledger that clients have been physically visiting the exchange office to transfer funds from Garantex to Grinex. “Additionally, offchain indicators such as transaction patterns, commentary, and exchange behaviors further support this connection,” they added.

The report also refers to a description of Grinex on the Russian crypto tracking site CoinMarketRating, suggesting that it was created by the owners of Garantex. The report indicates that “Grinex is not a standalone entity but a full-fledged successor to Garantex, continuing its financial activities despite the official shutdown of the exchange.”

By March 14, the influx of transactions on Grinex reached nearly $30 million, as per Global Ledger. CoinMarketRating now shows that the monthly trade volume has surpassed $68 million, with spot trading exceeding $2 million.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control initially imposed sanctions on Garantex in April 2022 for alleged money laundering violations. On March 6, the US Department of Justice, in collaboration with authorities in Germany and Finland, froze domains linked to Garantex, accused of processing over $96 billion in illicit proceeds since its inception in 2019.

Stablecoin operator Tether also halted $27 million in Tether (USDT) on March 6, causing Garantex to cease all operations, including withdrawals. Shortly after, on March 12, Indian Central Bureau of Investigation officials arrested Aleksej Bešciokov, alleged operator of Garantex, on US charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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Russia, having shown a public interest in cryptocurrencies, passed a law last summer promoting the use of digital currencies for international trade payments. Despite this, the country’s use of cryptocurrencies in oil trade remained undisclosed until now.

According to the sources, Russian oil companies are leveraging Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether (stablecoins) to facilitate the conversion of Chinese yuan and Indian rupees into Russian roubles. They pointed out that although it currently represents a minor portion of Russia’s total oil trade (valued at $192 billion by the International Energy Agency in the previous year), it is a growing component.

Previously, cryptocurrencies have proven beneficial for countries like Iran and Venezuela, under U.S. sanctions, in maintaining their economies functional while steering clear of the dollar – the global oil market’s preferred currency. Following the reinstatement of sanctions by Washington, Venezuela has increased its use of digital currencies in crude and fuel exports. Similarly, Russia is turning to cryptocurrencies for the oil trade.

One source, an investigator at a firm tracking the use of cryptocurrencies for sanctions evasion, said that Russia has developed several systems, with USDT (Tether) being just one of them. This source preferred to remain anonymous due to a non-disclosure agreement.

The Russian Central Bank has yet to comment on these claims. However, last year it acknowledged that sanction-related payment delays had become a significant issue for the Russian economy.

Even if sanctions are lifted, cryptocurrencies will likely continue to play a role in Russian oil trade, one source claimed. The ease and speed of operations they offer make them a handy tool.

As an illustration of how the trade operates, a Chinese buyer pays a trading company (acting as an intermediary) in yuan. This intermediary then converts the payment into cryptocurrency and transfers it to another account. From there, it is sent to a third account in Russia and converted into roubles.

For one Russian oil trader’s sales to China, monthly cryptocurrency transactions are worth tens of millions of dollars, according to a source familiar with the trader’s operations. Cryptocurrencies are just one of the several methods employed to circumvent payment issues, added a Kremlin advisor.

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Just last week, Garantex’s domains and servers were seized, and nearly $28 million worth of crypto linked to the exchange was frozen by an international alliance of law enforcement agencies from the U.S., Germany, and Finland, with the assistance of stablecoin issuer Tether.

In 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned the exchange for its alleged deliberate involvement in money laundering activities for ransomware actors, such as Conti and Black Basta, and major darknet markets like Hydra, which was the world’s most significant of its kind until its shutdown in 2022.

Garantex has also been implicated in large-scale sanctions evasion, notably with high-end services like the TGR Group, serving Russian oligarchs. The exchange is also accused of aiding criminal activities such as money laundering for North Korea’s Lazarus Group, the mastermind behind the recent colossal $1.5 billion Bybit heist.

Alongside the seizure operation, U.S. prosecutors have charged Besciokov and another operator of Garantex, Aleksandr Mira Serda, a 40-year-old Russian national residing in the United Arab Emirates, with a money laundering conspiracy. Besciokov’s name currently features on the U.S. Secret Service’s Most Wanted list.

Efforts to get comments from the Kerala police and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding Besciokov’s reported arrest yielded no response.

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Binance, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly resumed allowing users to purchase crypto with Russian bank cards. This move comes after the exchange had limited its services in Russia due to international sanctions. According to BeInCrypto’s Russian language site, compatibility with Russian bank-issued cards was reintroduced this week.

The limitations on Russian accounts began after international sanctions were imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In March, Binance blocked transactions with cards issued by banks within the Russian Federation. This action followed the significant withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard, who both stopped providing network services in the country.

In April, Binance deactivated accounts of numerous major clients in response to EU sanctions. Since then, Russian users holding crypto assets worth over 10,000 euros have been barred from making new deposits or trading. However, users with less than 10,000 euros in crypto remained active.

Section 2: Russia’s Push for Alternative Payment Technologies

As a result of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has found itself increasingly excluded from crucial payments infrastructure, such as the Swift network. Consequently, after the widespread sanctions imposed in 2022, developing new cross-border payment channels has become essential.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Elvira Nabiullina discussed the country’s approach in a recent speech. She emphasized Russia’s investment in domestic infrastructure, ensuring interoperability with foreign partners. Furthermore, she stated that creating an international settlements system is one of CBR’s top priorities.

Section 3: CBDCs and Cryptocurrencies as Potential Solutions

With many existing payment channels between Russia and its trading partners hindered, the country is exploring alternative technologies. For instance, the CBR is developing payment gateways to integrate with foreign systems, working closely with Turkey. Additionally, Russia and Iran initiated collaboration on an interbank payment network earlier this year.

The CBR is also drafting a bill to introduce an “experimental legal regime” for cryptocurrencies to be utilized in international transactions. Moreover, the ongoing development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is focusing on cross-border payments. CBR officials recently suggested that the digital ruble platform would be able to interoperate with other CBDCs.

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