{"id":11950,"date":"2022-08-09T14:52:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T14:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/09\/us-treasury-bans-tornado-cash-mixer-for-role-in-crypto-money-laundering\/"},"modified":"2022-08-09T14:52:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T14:52:22","slug":"us-treasury-bans-tornado-cash-mixer-for-role-in-crypto-money-laundering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/09\/us-treasury-bans-tornado-cash-mixer-for-role-in-crypto-money-laundering\/","title":{"rendered":"US Treasury bans Tornado Cash mixer for role in crypto money laundering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/8\/23296778\/us-treasury-tornado-cash-crypto-mixer-sanctions-ethereum-north-korea<\/a>
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The US Department of the Treasury has added the Tornado Cash crypto mixer to a list of sanctioned organizations, barring all US citizens from interacting with it and requiring that US assets belonging to Tornado Cash be reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made on Monday morning<\/a> by the Treasury in a press release that cited Tornado Cash\u2019s role in laundering cryptocurrency stolen in major hacks, especially those linked to North Korean hacking groups. In March, $625 million was stolen<\/a> from the blockchain behind the Axie Infinity<\/em> crypto game and laundered through Tornado Cash<\/a> \u2014 a heist that the FBI has attributed<\/a> to the North Korea-based Lazarus Group.<\/p>\n

The dramatic move from the Treasury is the latest escalation in a series of enforcement actions against Tornado Cash and other crypto mixers, which help to obfuscate cryptocurrency transactions by pooling funds together and then redistributing them to contributors. In a statement, Brian E. Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said that the mixer had not taken adequate steps to prevent its services from being used by some of the most prolific cybercriminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Treasury is sanctioning Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that launders the proceeds of cybercrimes, including those committed against victims in the United States,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cDespite 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTreasury will continue to aggressively pursue actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

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