Loevy & Loevy Lands Groundbreaking Federal Court Order to Sanction North Korean Hackers, Hydra Market and Other Blockchain Accounts

The first of its kind federal legal order interfaces with the next generation, legally-compliant blockchain

CHICAGO, 21 February 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A federal court today issued a restraining order to freeze accounts on the JuratBTC blockchain containing the cryptocurrency JTC. The accounts subject to today’s court order are controlled by 16 individuals and criminal organizations which has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for crimes ranging from ransomware to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The defendants include Hydra marketnorth korean hackers, CHATEX – a Russian ransomware extortion operation, and a peak South Sudanese official involved in, among other things, human rights violations. Other defendants include Blender.IO, the cryptocurrency blender used by the notorious cybercrime organization, The Lazarus Group; Anton Andreyez, a Russian hacker who worked to interfere in US elections; and Jiadong Leeaka “Blackjack1987,” a member of a crime ring that laundered over $100mm in cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers.

The order was made possible by a next-generation blockchain technology called “Jurat” that links blockchain nodes with court documents to enforce court orders. The suit was filed by JuratBTC blockchain miners, seeking to prevent their network from being misused by criminals.

“This is a first, precedent-setting step to bring blockchains into compliance with regulatory requirements and criminal laws” said Mike Kanovitza lawyer who mines JTC and is CEO of Jurat LLC, the company that developed the technology.

“As miners, we operate the blockchain and want to protect our users from blockchain crimes. It is also important for us to be in full compliance with laws such as sanctions issued by the Treasury Department’s Financial Assets Control Office. That is why we created this blockchain and Jurat- the technology.”

JTC is designed as a consumer protection version of bitcoin. It is held by all bitcoin blockchain accounts from now on 8 January 2022, meaning that everyone who owned bitcoin on that date also owns a corresponding amount of JTC coins. JTC was created by a fork of the bitcoin blockchain that updated the bitcoin software with court connection technology.

Jurat technology is unique in that it allows blockchains to remain decentralized while still complying with court orders. The nodes reach consensus on the meaning of court orders so that they can continue to operate autonomously.

By incorporating the litigation restrictions for legal proceedings, Jurat technology offers regulators and law enforcement a means to govern blockchain transactions while ensuring that no public official has control over the blockchain. Likewise, the technology allows users to enforce their own legal rights.

“With Jurat technology, users can take legal action to recover coins that have been stolen or that they no longer have access to because they lost their private keys,” noted Kanovitz. “These are difficult issues that the blockchain community and public officials have wrestled with since the early days of blockchain. We hope that this innovation can become part of the solution to protect consumers and help make blockchain technology and Web3 friendly for a new generation of everyday. users.”

Industry estimates for cryptocurrency crimes vary above 20 billion dollars annual.

The plaintiff, The JuratBTC Blockchain, is represented by its attorney, Jon Loewy, from Loevy & Loevy Lawyers. A copy of the suit, JuratBTC Blockchain v. Andreyev et al., case no. 1:23-cv-00779 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinoisis available here.

Loevy & Loevy has won more multi-million dollar jury verdicts in the past decade than any other civil rights law firm in the country. As one of the nation’s largest and most successful civil rights law firms, we are dedicated to seeking justice for people whose civil rights have been violated and for whistleblowers.

For more information, contact:
Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, 312.243.5900
Mike Kanovitz, [email protected]
Andy ThayerLoevy & Loevy Attorneys, 773.209.1187 [email protected]

SOURCE Loevy & Loevy Lawyers