US Treasury Blacklists Crypto Wallets Tied to Russian Sanctions Evasion Network

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an office administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals, has blacklisted two crypto wallet addresses linked to the Russian sanctions evasion network.

According to the press release shared on February 1st, OFAC added one Bitcoin (BTC) wallet address and one Ethereum (ETH) wallet address to the list of Specially Designated Nationals.

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In the press release, OFAC noted that the move comes as a result of the US goal to “methodically and intensively target sanctions evasion efforts around the globe.” In particular, the US aims to limit Russia’s access to “revenue needed to wage its” war in Ukraine.

The US Treasury Deputy Secretary, Wally Adeyemo, commented on the matter by stating:

Targeting proxies is one of many steps that Treasury and our coalition of partners have taken, and continue to take, to tighten sanctions enforcement against Russia’s defense sector, its benefactors, and its supporters.

OFAC sanctioned 22 individuals and entities supporting “Russia’s military-industrial complex.”

The list of sanctioned individuals includes Jonathon Zimenkov, which reportedly has access to at least one BTC wallet and one ETH wallet. The man is the son of Igor Zimenkov, the leader of the Russian sanctions evasion network.

OFAC believes the network supplied Russian armed forces with the technology used in the war against Ukraine. On top of that, the group allegedly supported several “sanctioned, state-owned Russian defense entities.”

At the time of writing, both sanctioned wallets are empty. However, the data revealed that, last year, someone moved 5,463 ETH, worth approximately $16 million.

It is not the first time OFAC blacklisted Russia-related individuals and entities. In September 2022, US Treasury sanctioned five crypto addresses connected to the Russian neo-Nazi paramilitary group.