US authorities have formally indicted three Russian citizens who operated the Blender and Sinbad cryptocurrency mixers. Two of them, Roman Ostapenko and Alexander Oleynik, were arrested on December 1, 2024, a year after the Sinbad infrastructure was shut down. Another, Anton Tarasov, remains at large.
The Blender mixer operated from approximately 2018 to 2022. It was advertised everywhere as a service that deletes transaction logs and does not require registration or "provision of any data other than the receiving address," which, according to the creators, would guarantee anonymity. A month after Blender was shut down, the Sinbad mixer was launched, providing similar services, but it too fell prey to security forces in late November 2023.
55-year-old Ostapenko, 44-year-old Oleynik, and 32-year-old Tarasov are accused of conspiracy to launder money, as well as running a money transfer business without a license. If found guilty, each of them faces a maximum sentence of 25-30 years in prison.
The Blender mixer operated from approximately 2018 to 2022. It was advertised everywhere as a service that deletes transaction logs and does not require registration or "provision of any data other than the receiving address," which, according to the creators, would guarantee anonymity. A month after Blender was shut down, the Sinbad mixer was launched, providing similar services, but it too fell prey to security forces in late November 2023.
55-year-old Ostapenko, 44-year-old Oleynik, and 32-year-old Tarasov are accused of conspiracy to launder money, as well as running a money transfer business without a license. If found guilty, each of them faces a maximum sentence of 25-30 years in prison.
