Skip to main content

Tornado Cash: US sanctions Ethereum mixers

 


Tornado Cash is the most popular and largest Ethereum mixer in the world. In principle, this is another smart contract that mixes transactions of its users in a similar way to a Bitcoin mixer. The result is greater privacy because it allows the connection between the sender and receiver to be obfuscated.


This circumstance is also often used by criminals, because it enables them to launder mostly stolen funds. This is a thorn in the side of the US and so today the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the service. Similar to the case of Blender.io , a number of Ethereum addresses ended up on a sanctions list.


As a result, US citizens and businesses are no longer allowed to interact with Tornado Cash. It is unclear whether the measure can be designed effectively at all.


Effects of the measure are disputed

The Treasury Department considers it proven that hackers like the Lazarus Group laundered large sums of money through Tornado Cash. The group is said to be connected to North Korea and commit various cyber crimes on its behalf. Including theft of cryptocurrencies worth millions.


Lazarus is said to have shifted around 455 million US dollars via Tornado Cash. It is not at all clear what the sanctions are intended to achieve in concrete terms. Ultimately, the mixer could be set up with new addresses that are then no longer on the list. In addition, no direct intervention is possible. Instead, they tend to sanction their own citizens when they contact the platform.


From a legal point of view, the measure may be necessary to take further action against the hackers and the services they use. In reality, however, this has no effect and even the symbolic character is lost. Tornado Cash was designed as a DAO and is not subject to any central control. This is where the service differs from bitcoin mixers, which usually have an operator who is more or less tangible. The chances are good that the measures simply fizzle out on the design of Tornado Cash.

My Top Picks
Honeygain - Passive earner that pays in BTC or PayPal
MandalaExchange -The Best no KYC crypto Exchange! 
BetFury - Play And Earn BFG for daily Bitcoin and ETH dividends!
Pipeflare - Faucet that pays in ZCash and Matic, Games pay in DAI
Womplay - Mobile dApp gaming platform that rewards in EOS and Bitcoin
Cointiply - The #1 Crypto Earning Site
Torum - Join the latest Social Network and earn TRM for Free! 
LiteCoinPay - The #1 FaucetPay earner for Litecoin 
LBRY/Odysee - YouTube Alternative that lets you earn Money by viewing videos!
FaucetPay - The #1 Microwallet Platform
FREEBTC - The #1 FaucetPay earner for Satoshi's
FaucetCrypto - An earning/faucet site that pays out instantly
FireFaucet - An earning site that pays better for some than Cointiply
DogeFaucet - Dogecoin Faucet
xFaucet - BTC, ETH, LTC, Doge, Dash, Tron, DGB, BCH, BNB, ZEC, FEY - Claim every 5 minutes
Konstantinova - BTC, ETH, LTC, Doge, Dash, Tron, DGB, BNB, ZEC, USDT, FEY, 25 Claims Daily

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

BlackRock launches crypto ETF, certifies massive growth potential for crypto market

  Influential asset manager BlackRock has launched a blockchain index fund (ETF) that offers investors a way to invest in the crypto industry without having to invest directly in related cryptocurrencies. Accordingly, the world's largest asset manager, which currently has assets worth almost 10 trillion. US dollars managed, the so-called Blockchain and Tech ETF (IBLC) was launched this week. The $4.7 million ETF does not invest directly in cryptocurrencies or crypto investment products, but instead tracks various companies within the crypto industry. The ETF is made up of 41 different securities, of which the American crypto exchange Coinbase accounts for the largest share at 11.45%. They are followed by the Bitcoin ( BTC ) mining companies Marathon Digital Holdings (11.19%) and Riot Blockchain (10.41%). To still leave room for future investments in the crypto market, the ETF has a 9.15% cash component in US dollars. In addition to the launch of the new ETF, BlackRock has also publ...

Not a bear market: According to the analyst, the current BTC decline is the same as in previous Bitcoin cycles

  According to one analyst, Bitcoin is behaving the same overall this year as it has in previous cycles. Bitcoin ( BTC ) will have “at least one more boost higher” before hitting all-time highs this halving cycle, analysts are currently saying. The well-known analyst TechDev has spoken on Twitter about the current state of BTC and said that contrary to many opinions, nothing unusual has happened in BTC/USD in 2022. Bitcoin in 2021: Nothing to see here Sentiment has also taken a hit, falling 40 percent from November's all-time high of $69,000. There is still “extreme fear” in the bitcoin and altcoin market. TechDev, known for his bullish views on Bitcoin, sees no reason to worry. He analyzed the new wallet addresses in relation to course behavior and shows here that the scenario from last year was by no means an isolated case. Back then, the number of new addresses made lower highs while the price made higher highs. "In 4 of the 6 corrections, there was divergence with price ma...

The 5 largest platforms for non-fungible token (NFT) collectibles

  Since the beginning of 2021, non-fungible tokens (NFT) have had no holding back and the sector is setting new records almost every day.  More and more artists, stars and brands are realizing the potential - NFT are well on their way to catapulting the crypto space into the mainstream.  But which collectibles are currently the most popular? What are NFT? NFT are unique tokens that cannot be exchanged one-for-one for an equivalent token.  Any asset that is tokenizable can be an NFT.  This includes, for example, (digital) works of art, trading cards, game items and crypto domains.  Theoretically, however, real estate or securities can also be mapped as NFT. NFTs can be used to transparently map ownership structures on a public blockchain.  This allows them to store value just like real objects, even if additional copies are easy to make.  For example, the original picture of the Mona Lisa is significantly more valuable than a photo, as everyone kno...