The United States (U.S.) on Monday imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, accusing it of helping launder more than $455M for the Lazarus Group, a hacking organization tied to the North Korean government.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that Tornado Cash has been used to launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019. This includes $455 million stolen by the Lazarus Group which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019 in the largest known virtual currency heist to date.
Tornado Cash was also involved in laundering over $96 million of malicious cyber actors’ funds from the June 24, 2022, Harmony Bridge Heist. Also, it was part of August 2, 2022, Nomad Heist in which at least $7.8 million was laundered.
Brian E Nelson, Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence said that Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to bar it from laundering funds. Nelson also went on to say, Tornado Cash has laundered the proceeds of cybercrimes including those committed against victims in the United States.
The Treasury will continue to take stringent actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them, said Nelson in a statement.
Consequently, Monday’s move freezes any U.S. assets of the mixer and generally bars American companies and individuals from dealing with it.
All the Ethereum wallet addresses associated with Tornado Cash and its smart contracts were added to OFAC’s SDN List.
