Tornado Cash has become a well-liked medium for money laundering as a result of the rapidly rising occurrences throughout Ethereum and BSC.
With an upward trend and rapidly rising events on Ethereum and the Binance Smart Chain, Tornado Cash has become a well-liked platform for money laundering.
A significant chunk of the illicit earnings has lost track after being mixed.
According to a recent analysis by blockchain security platform SlowMist, about 300,160 ETH, or 74.6% of stolen funds on the Ethereum network, were moved to the disputed cryptocurrency tumbler in the first half of 2022.
The Blockchain Security and Anti-Money Laundering Analysis Report by SlowMist for 2022 states:
“TORNADO CASH ACCOUNTS FOR THE BULK OF THE INITIAL FUNDING FOR THESE SECURITY ATTACKS. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTS OF WITHDRAWALS FROM EXCHANGES, TRADING PLATFORMS, AND PERSONAL WALLETS TO FUND THESE SECURITY INCIDENTS.”
Regulators from all across the globe have major differences regarding cryptocurrency mixers.
The North Korean government-backed Lazarus cyber gang’s involvement with the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixer has lately drawn criticism.
The most recent penalties and public backing for Tornado Cash
Since its debut in 2019, data show that Tornado Cash has been used to cleanse digital assets valued at more than $7 billion.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) swiftly forbade US people and businesses from using Tornado after it faced criticism earlier this month for enabling billions of dollars worth of cash to be laundered through its platform.
A 29-year-old man who is reportedly associated with the Tornado Cash was held by the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), as we previously reported in mid-August.
Coin Centre, a non-profit organization that studies cryptocurrency policy, is prepared to take the case to court.
It claims that OFAC may have exceeded its legal powers and that its main justification for doing so is that it would be inappropriate to prohibit the whole platform.
Furthermore, according to Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, it was unreasonable to remove Tornado Cash’s code repositories from Github because there are people who respect their privacy and adhere to the law.