2023-03-03 Coinbase vs Tether on DPRK Sanctions

This Twitter thread.

First let's look at transfers to wallets that are blacklisted by somebody. Each token and protocol has a separate blacklist. Just because Tether blacklists someone for USDT that doesn't mean that are necessarily blacklisted for USDC. Similarly many exchanges might reduce to deal with Tornado Cash but their blocks have no impact on other players.

There is a line in there showing flows from Coinbase to North Korea. We know it is North Korea because OFAC sanctioned the wallet. You can see blacklist info here.

Then there are two things to look at:

• USDC flows from Coinbase to North Korea after the Tether freeze

• This North Korean wallets' largest counterparties

Note that North Korea is depositing directly to Binance, FTX and Kraken while withdrawing from a wider range of exchanges. This address also used both 1inch and Uniswap.