The U.S. is orchestrating an “anti-DPRK racket” by exaggerating the scale of the country’s cyber operations, North Korea's foreign ministry claimed after Washington sanctioned a cryptocurrency mixer that helped Pyongyang pilfer millions of dollars.

The remarks from a researcher at North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) came after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on a virtual currency mixer called Blender on Friday, claiming that the platform “enabled DPRK malicious cyber actors to mix illicit virtual currency with anonymous virtual currency to facilitate money laundering.”