September 20, 2021

The government of the United States will start sanctioning cryptocurrencies, wallets, and traders that help ransomware gangs convert cryptocurrencies.

The moves come at a time of growing crackdowns amidst increasing ransomware attacks on organizations.

Since cryptocurrencies offer anonymity, many Ransomware gangs use them to provide payment. After they have made payments, Ransomware gangs must convert money that is paid in cryptocurrencies into dollars or local currencies. They do this by transferring the money to mixers to make the coins less traceable, and then convert with cryptocurrency exchanges or their employees.

By sanctioning cryptocurrency exchanges, which are known to be used by ransomware gangs, the government hopes to disrupt the process and at the same time complicate the operation of ransomware gangs.

Ari Redbord, a former senior Treasury Department security official, said of the expected sanctions: “Such a move would be an aggressive, proactive approach to going after those who facilitate ransomware payments.”

For more information, read the original story in Bleeping Computer.