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“Tornado Cash” crypto mixer blacklisted by U.S. Treasury

"Tornado Cash" crypto mixer blacklisted by U.S. Treasury Department

Source: Tornado.cash 

The U.S. Treasury Department has blacklisted the Ethereum mixing service “Tornado Cash”. North Korea’s hacker group Lazarus allegedly laundered several hundred million U.S. dollars through the crypto mixer.

Tornado Cash sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklisted crypto mixer Tornado Cash on August 08, 2022, and blocked its website.

“Today, Treasury is sanctioning Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that launders the proceeds of cybercrimes, including those committed against victims in the United States,”

said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. 

Tornado Cash's smart contract blacklisted

Tornado Cash is a mixing service that anonymizes transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, “more than $7 billion” has been laundered through the service since 2019. Part of this sum was allegedly related to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus. In this context, Brian E. Nelson added:

“Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks. Treasury will continue to aggressively pursue actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them.”

In the past, OFAC already sanctioned Bitcoin mixer Blender.io for failing to comply with the U.S. Treasury Department’s AML requirements. For US citizens, the use of sanctioned crypto mixers is prohibited. Violators may be subject to criminal prosecution.

Disclaimer

This article does not provide investment advice. Historical cryptocurrency data is not a guarantee of future market developments. The author may hold several of the cryptocurrencies mentioned in this article.

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