The operators of the Mixer Blender and Sinbad are accused of being involved in Money Laundering and running a remittance business without a license.

On January 11th, PANews reported that a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia has charged three Russian citizens with crimes related to operating two cryptocurrency mixers. According to the announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, defendants Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik, and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov are accused of running two mixing companies named Blender.io and Sinbad.io. They are charged with conspiring to commit Money Laundering and operating money transmission business without a license. In May 2022, the United States discovered that North Korean hackers used Blender Money Laundering to profit $20.5 million from the $600 million Axie Infinity hack, and subsequently imposed sanctions on Blender. Blockchain analysis company Elliptic pointed out in 2023 that Sinbad is likely a rebranded version of Blender operated by the same organization. Blender adheres to a ‘no-logs policy’ and deletes user transaction details. The company operated from 2018 to 2022, and its successor Sinbad emerged several months after Blender’s closure. On November 27, 2023, law enforcement took action to shut down Sinbad. If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison for Money Laundering and up to 5 years for operating an unlicensed money transfer business. Ostapenko and Oleynik were arrested on December 1, 2024. Tarasov is still at large.