US Treasury Department sanctions virtual currency mixing service 'Tornado Cash', involved in money laundering in North Korea

On August 8, 2022, the US Treasury Department announced that it had sanctioned Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixing service, for its involvement in money laundering by the North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus Group .

US Treasury Sanctions Notorious Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash | US Department of the Treasury
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916

US Treasury sanctions cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash
https://www.theblock.co/post/162105/us-treasury-sanctions-cryptocurrency-mixer-tornado-cash

US treasury whips up sanctions for crypto mixer Tornado Cash • The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/08/treasury_sanctions_tornado_cash_korea/

A virtual currency mixing service is a service that mixes multiple transaction data to improve the anonymity of virtual currency transactions. Also known as tumbler or blender, the service is primarily used for privacy reasons, but it is also used by criminal organizations to launder money because it makes it difficult to track the movement of cryptocurrencies.

According to an announcement by the U.S. Treasury Department, cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash was involved in laundering cryptocurrency equivalent to more than 75 billion yen stolen by the Lazarus Group in the largest cryptocurrency theft in history .

It turns out that a North Korean cyber crime group was involved in the ``theft of 75 billion yen from NFT games''-GIGAZINE

Additionally, Tornado Cash laundered cryptocurrencies stolen in multiple cybercrime attacks, including the Harmony hack in June and the Nomad attack on August 2, the U.S. Treasury Department claims. increase.

In this regard, the ministry announced that it has added 44 Ethereum and USD coin wallets owned by Tornado Cash to the SDN list , a list of those subject to sanctions. This will prevent US individuals and entities from trading with Tornado Cash without US Treasury approval.

On May 6, Blender.io, which was also a virtual currency mixing service, was sanctioned, and Tornado Cash is the second example of a mixing service being sanctioned for being involved in money laundering of virtual currencies.

Brian E. Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement, 'Today, the Treasury Department laundered virtual profits from cybercrime, including those committed against victims in the United States. Sanctions currency mixer Tornado Cash, despite professing otherwise, has repeatedly failed to stop malicious cyber actors from laundering money on a regular basis. , did not even take basic measures against the risk.The Treasury will continue to aggressively pursue mixers that launder cryptocurrencies for criminals and those who lend a hand to criminals. ' said.