Cryptocurrencies and other virtual digital assets did not enjoy the trust of governments since their inception. Though the relationship was spoiled a couple of times with the SEC-Ripple battle, and the proposed 'security branding' of other assets, the story has taken a crucial hop. In a short press release, the department of the Treasury (Office of Foreign Assets Control - OFAC) has sanctioned Tornado cash!

Tornado cash is a crypto anonymity enabling service. But isn't it inherent in the very concept of crypto? Not really. With the expansion of on-chain analysis, anyone with a basic blockchain understanding can figure out the entire history of funds. Tornado cash solved this problem with its unique capability to conceal the transaction details of the sender. Basically, you can send some money to Tornado cash and receive it in another account. That too from a source that can not be mapped to you. Fascinating, isn't it? Tornado cash achieves this by mixing several transactions it receives from users. As it is part of the Ethereum ecosystem, thanks to its highly decentralized nature, freezing assets is not likely. Although, Binance and Circle have frozen assets of wallets that were part of any illicit activity. 

Technology, by and large, benefits people with awareness and understanding. But this does not imply it can not be misused. 

US Treasury Department says that Tornado Cash has laundered $7 billion worth of crypto in the last three years. Moreover, it was leveraged by hackers to legalize their crimes too.

1. North Korean Hacker Group (Lazarus Group) has used Tornado cash to launder $455 million.

2. Tornado was instrumental in covering the tracks of the Harmony bridge exploit.

3. Most recently, the Nomad bridge hackers also used Tornado cash to divert $96 million.

Unsurprisingly, the US government sees Tornado Cash as a device to facilitate cybercrimes and terrorism financing. But Tornado cash had initiated a wallet flag system some months ago. The system helped on-chain detectives and agencies to filter out the bad actors. 

1. Properties of Tornado cash in the United States are blocked. 

2. People who own more than 50% of the assets of sanctioned persons are also blocked.

3. US citizens are prohibited to use Tornado Cash.

   In short, for common users, the only implication is that they can not use Tornado Cash. The DNS is also banned. Is there an alternative? Yes, https://blendar.io/ is your answer.

However, there is a catch. The OFAC is closely monitoring Blender.io too. However, Blender allows only Bitcoin transactions and charges a 0.6% to 2.5% service fee for each operation. 

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Cryptocurrencies and other virtual digital assets did not enjoy the trust of governments since their inception. Though the relationship was spoiled a couple of times with the SEC-Ripple battle, and the proposed 'security branding' of other assets, the story has taken a crucial hop. In a short press release, the department of the Treasury (Office of Foreign Assets Control - OFAC) has sanctioned Tornado cash!

Tornado cash is a crypto anonymity enabling service. But isn't it inherent in the very concept of crypto? Not really. With the expansion of on-chain analysis, anyone with a basic blockchain understanding can figure out the entire history of funds. Tornado cash solved this problem with its unique capability to conceal the transaction details of the sender. Basically, you can send some money to Tornado cash and receive it in another account. That too from a source that can not be mapped to you. Fascinating, isn't it? Tornado cash achieves this by mixing several transactions it receives from users. As it is part of the Ethereum ecosystem, thanks to its highly decentralized nature, freezing assets is not likely. Although, Binance and Circle have frozen assets of wallets that were part of any illicit activity. 

Technology, by and large, benefits people with awareness and understanding. But this does not imply it can not be misused. 

US Treasury Department says that Tornado Cash has laundered $7 billion worth of crypto in the last three years. Moreover, it was leveraged by hackers to legalize their crimes too.

1. North Korean Hacker Group (Lazarus Group) has used Tornado cash to launder $455 million.

2. Tornado was instrumental in covering the tracks of the Harmony bridge exploit.

3. Most recently, the Nomad bridge hackers also used Tornado cash to divert $96 million.

Unsurprisingly, the US government sees Tornado Cash as a device to facilitate cybercrimes and terrorism financing. But Tornado cash had initiated a wallet flag system some months ago. The system helped on-chain detectives and agencies to filter out the bad actors. 

1. Properties of Tornado cash in the United States are blocked. 

2. People who own more than 50% of the assets of sanctioned persons are also blocked.

3. US citizens are prohibited to use Tornado Cash.

   In short, for common users, the only implication is that they can not use Tornado Cash. The DNS is also banned. Is there an alternative? Yes, https://blendar.io/ is your answer.

However, there is a catch. The OFAC is closely monitoring Blender.io too. However, Blender allows only Bitcoin transactions and charges a 0.6% to 2.5% service fee for each operation. 

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