In the aftermath of the sanctions imposed by OFAC on Tornado Cash, unique details regarding the protocol’s utilization by malicious people have been brought to the front. Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer, has been prominently used in laundering money and such incidents have numerously grown in number in the case of Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum. For a great amount of the illegal funds, there is no trail following they went through the mixer.
As per an exclusive report published by SlowMist (a blockchain venue), the stolen crypto funds’ seventy-four percent (approximately 300,160 ETH) on the network of Ethereum were transacted to the notorious crypto tumbler in the initial half of this year. The latest report from SlowMist noted that Tornado Cash counts as the prominent participant for the majority of the first funding for the respective security events.
Linkage to Lazarus Group
Some reports have also mentioned that funds have been withdrawn from the exchange platforms, trading venues, as well as personal wallets for the funding of the respective security events. A huge zone of conflict for the watchdogs across the globe has been the crypto mixers. On the contrary, Tornado Cash has captured a lot of attention in a new stride of controversy over its linkage with Lazarus (a hacking group sponsored on the behalf of the North Korean authorities).
As disclosed by the Treasury of the United States, a few of the great hacks related to the crypto world have Lazarus Group at their back. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States has declared that the attack on Ronin Bridge is also included among such enormous incidents.
In this respect, Tornado Cash was held responsible eventually for letting the laundering of billions via its venue. Since its establishment in 2019, it is pointed out by the data that the laundered digital assets’ estimated worth is nearly $7B.
Crypto Platforms Comply with the Sanctions
After that, sanctions have been implemented by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) against the token mixer formerly this month, putting an instant ban on US residents from utilizing it.
Afterward, a USDC stablecoin Kraken (which is operated by an association between Coinbase and Circle) obstructed the accounts that were connected to the controversial Tornado Cash. Several other industry players also observed the regulatory sanctions and stopped the addresses associated with the mixer.
