Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian nationwide behind the lately closed darknet platform Nemesis, has been sanctioned by US authorities.
In response to a March 4 assertion from the Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC), Parsarad created the Nemesis market in 2021, permitting unlawful commerce in medicine, faux paperwork, hacking instruments, and different prison companies.
Alongside Parsarad himself, the sanctions lengthen to a number of cryptocurrency accounts linked to him, particularly 44 Bitcoin
$80,565.27
and 5 Monero
$210.40
wallets.
Do you know?
Subscribe – We publish new crypto explainer movies each week!
Keep away from Crypto Taxes? (Authorized Methods Defined)
Chainalysis, a blockchain intelligence company, reported these wallets collectively obtained over $850,000 between July 2022 and March 2024. Because of the improve in cryptocurrency values throughout this era, Parsarad’s complete transfers exceeded $1.6 million.
Most of Parsarad’s cryptocurrency transactions concerned Nemesis straight, though Chainalysis revealed that he additionally despatched about $12,000 to different darknet websites, together with ASAP Market, Subsequent Era, and Incognito Market.
Earlier than authorities from the US, Germany, and Lithuania seized Nemesis’s servers in March 2024, the platform hosted roughly 30,000 customers and round 1,000 energetic sellers. OFAC described the location as having built-in options designed to facilitate cash laundering.
Bradley T. Smith, Appearing Underneath Secretary for Terrorism and Monetary Intelligence, acknowledged that Parsarad is actively making an attempt to relaunch the Nemesis market.
Parsarad is accused not solely of working {the marketplace} but in addition of laundering digital forex transactions for criminals who used Nemesis. With the sanctions now in place, US people and companies are prohibited from participating in any transactions with Parsarad or firms majority-owned by him.
Just lately, US authorities detained Aleksei Andriunin, the founding father of Gotbit. What occurred? Learn the total story.