Tornado Cash

Per Etherscan data, the culprit behind last week’s $28M attack on exchange platform Deribit is transferring the funds via crypto mixer Tornado Cash. Hacker Transfers Part Loot in 17 Operations So far, the Deribit attacker has moved 1,610 Ethereum tokens, over 2.5 million USD at ETH’s current prices.  The hacker processed the move in 17 transactions, sixteen 100 ETH transfers, and 10 ETH later on. The first dates back to November 5, roughly 2 days after the breach took place. Notably,…

According to new data, over half of the blocks on the Ethereum network now reportedly comply with the US Treasury OFAC’s standards. This comes roughly a month after the platform’s monumental merge update. Phasing Out Tornado Cash The Office of Foreign Assets Control is the intelligence and enforcement agency of the US  Treasury Department. Indeed, the OFAC administers and enforces US  financial sanctions. A prime example of this is the recent, highly-publicized ban on crypto mixer Tornado Cash.  According to…

Crypto advocacy group Coin Center has slammed the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) with a lawsuit. The think tank cites the Treasury’s blacklist of privacy protocol Tornado Cash as the reason for the suit. According to the filing, Coin Center claims the ban was harmful to US-based users and stood in the way of private transactions on the Ethereum network.  Coin Center Shares Privacy Concerns On October 12, Coin Center filed a lawsuit against the Treasury…

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has cleared up some rules pertaining to Tornado Cash.  While some helpful guidance and reassurance have been provided, many questions remain regarding the Office’s designation of the privacy tool.  The Treasury reiterated that U.S. persons are no longer allowed to interact with Tornado Cash. However, anyone who had their funds trapped inside Tornado Cash prior to August 8th may apply for a license to retrieve them. “OFAC would have a…

A Netherlands court has ruled that Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev be denied bail. The inculpated programmer will inevitably spend a further three months in detention before any further rulings. Netherlands Judge Rules Against Pertsev 29-year-old Alexey Pertsev, one of the developers responsible for the Tornado Cash code, has been denied bail. This comes hot on the heels of his August 10 arrest. Dutch Financial Crimes Agency FIOD had apparently had their eye on Tornado Cash since June. Authorities finally…

Major stablecoin network Tether may not be on board with the US Treasury Department’s ban on crypto mixer Tornado Cash.  In an official release on Wednesday, the team revealed that they would not blacklist any of the OFAC’s sanctioned smart contract addresses. Tether in Close Touch with Law Enforcement Agencies Earlier this month, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the privacy protocol Tornado Cash. The treasury highlighted its role in laundering the proceeds of cybercrime as the…

The DAO website for sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash appears to no longer be operational. According to social media reports, this is also true for the platform’s Discord server. DAO Website Stops Going Through Earlier this week, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control imposed a sanction on the Ethereum-based protocol. Since then, the platform has seen some of its resources become inaccessible. Additionally, various entities have begun distancing themselves from Tornado Cash’s services. Hence, the platform’s…

Earlier this week, Netherlands’ financial watchdog the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) took a 29-year-old developer into custody. The FIOD carried out the arrest in Amsterdam due to suspicions of his involvement in money laundering operations using crypto mixer Tornado Cash. Tornado Cash Facilitating Crypto Crimes The arrest comes shortly after the US Department of Treasury announced sanctions against the privacy protocol. In a release, the Treasury cited Tornado Cash’s role in various crypto crimes since its inception in…

Following heated attention on Tornado Cash this week, the Ethereum founder spoke on the mixer’s recent sanction, revealing he used the blacklisted mixer not long ago. Tornado cash is a decentralized protocol that provides users with a platform to perform untraceable transactions. The protocol, built on the Ethereum blockchain, is a transaction mixer that hides and deletes links between transacting accounts. This makes it impossible for transactions performed through it to be traceable, giving its users full anonymity. Vitalik Prompts…