According to Cointelegraph, the founder of the layered blockchain Jurat defended his protocol, arguing that on-chain legal enforcement is a necessary trade-off for the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. On August 8, a U.S. district court used Jurat's on-chain execution tool to lock several individuals sanctioned for money laundering and using ransomware to extort cryptocurrency payments to support North Korea's weapons program out of their crypto accounts. Jurat founder and CEO Mike Kanovitz said this was the first judicial order of its kind. The Jurat blockchain was launched in late 2022 and was formed through a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. The technology connects blockchain nodes with court files to execute court orders. Kanovitz acknowledged that the technology may be criticized by loyal supporters of decentralization. However, the Illinois lawyer said that the technology can bring necessary due process protections to digital assets, which will be key to mainstream adoption. According to a June 30 report by blockchain security company Beosin, the total amount of cryptocurrency lost due to scams, hacking and carpet withdrawals reached $656 million in the first half of 2023.