US Treasury Takes Aim at Darknet Operations with Sanctions on Bitcoin and Monero Addresses
by aria-crypto.com
March 4, 2025 at 22:16
US Treasury Takes Aim at Darknet Operations with Sanctions on Bitcoin and Monero Addresses
The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on 49 virtual currency addresses connected to Nemesis, a now-defunct darknet marketplace. These addresses, comprising 44 Bitcoin and five Monero locations, were purportedly controlled by Iranian national Behrouz Parsarad, the site's alleged administrator. Parsarad reportedly managed to amass significant amounts of money by charging transaction fees on the platform, which hosted about 30,000 users and facilitated nearly $30 million in narcotics sales over three years. The Treasury asserts that, apart from offering a transaction platform, Parsarad also engaged in laundering virtual currencies for various cybercriminals. The sanctions are part of broader efforts led by the Trump administration to combat illicit activities, specifically targeting the fentanyl trade through executive orders. Despite extensive efforts to shut down such darknet marketplaces, with significant operations like the Hydra Market closure in 2022, challenges remain, as individuals like Parsarad have evaded capture and are allegedly planning to establish new online illegal platforms.
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