The cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, blacklisted by the US Treasury in August 2022, continues to function outside of the United States. On an interesting note, there are indications that certain American organizations may be “unknowingly” using the blacklisted service.
The curtain on this supposedly dark truth was removed by an X (formerly Twitter) user going under the handle “icebergy”. He posted a screenshot on March 20 of a very surprising Tornado Cash transaction.
What’s peculiar about this transaction is that it involves, money transfer from Korean hackers to BlackRock, the biggest US-based investment management company globally.
The anonymous transaction has sparked conjecture about where it came from, with some speculating that North Korea may have been involved. It’s interesting to note that the sum in question was close to one Ethereum.
Since the US Treasury blacklisted Tornado Cash in August 2022, the Ethereum protocol that is notorious for anonymizing cryptocurrency transactions has come under scrutiny. This renders its use unlawful for US people, residents, and businesses, creating legal difficulties for organizations such as BlackRock.
This is a crucial moment as BlackRock enters the cryptocurrency space by introducing a spot Bitcoin ETF. Facing sanctions, North Korea might transfer funds to a US company to bypass restrictions or access restricted goods, potentially integrating illicit funds into the legitimate financial system.
Tornado Cash’s connection to illegal activity exacerbates the implications of the transaction. It has been used for money laundering by North Korean hackers connected to the Lazarus Group. When coders were accused by the US DOJ of helping hackers launder more than $1 billion, the controversy reached its zenith in 2023.
Charges of money laundering and sanctions violations are brought against the tool’s principal developers, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov. US authorities have detained Storm, who is requesting support to contest the accusations.
Also Read: Half of North Korea’s foreign currency earnings are From Hacks
