The US imposes sanctions against the mixer Tornado Cash, which allegedly laundered more than $ 7 billion

The United States is imposing sanctions on the Tornado Cash mixer, blocking transactions that should have a strong impact on the platform, to combat money laundering, wherever they come from.

The United States is stepping up its efforts to crack down on dubious cryptocurrency intermediaries. The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned Tornado Cash, a mixer that allegedly laundered more than $7 billion in stolen crypto funds since its launch in 2019.

U.S. Sanctions Tornado Cash Mixer

Like the Blender platform some time ago, Tornado Cash has been accused of “indiscriminately”aiding thieves by hiding transaction details and failing to take appropriate anti-money laundering measures. Lazarus hackers from North Korea have invested at least $455 million in this mixer.

Blocking transactions that should have a strong impact on the platform

The sanctions block transactions with any person or entity associated with Tornado Cash, whether located in the United States or controlled by Americans. Anyone who discovers prohibited activity must notify the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a financial control agency that reports to the US Department of the Treasury.

Tornado Cash runs on the Ethereum blockchain. U.S. authorities say Blender was involved in other high-profile heists, including the Harmony Bridge robbery (for which he allegedly laundered $96 million) between June and the Nomad attack this month (involving “at least”$7.8 million).).

Fight money laundering wherever it comes from

The government has been taking legal action against cryptomixers for years. Federal authorities specifically accused a man living in Ohio in 2020 of running a dark web mixer that helped criminals launder $300 million. At the same time, the US Treasury Department is just beginning to impose sanctions against blenders, and Blender was blocked in May last year. The United States now considers such blenders to be a national security threat, and the country hopes their efforts will help curb terrorism as well as criminals’ attempts to evade conventional sanctions.