Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that was recently slapped with US sanctions, was the preferred tool for laundering illicit proceeds from nonfungible token scams prior to the ban, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises.
(Bloomberg) — Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that was recently slapped with US sanctions, was the preferred tool for laundering illicit proceeds from nonfungible token scams prior to the ban, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises.
The mixer “was the source of $137.6 million of cryptoassets processed by NFT marketplaces and the laundering tool of choice for 52% of NFT scam proceeds before being sanctioned,” the firm wrote in a report released Wednesday. Services offered by platforms like Tornado Cash can be used to mask transactions by mixing tokens from different sources before transferring them to the ultimate recipients — making them a popular tool among illicit actors. Tornado Cash didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tornado Cash earlier this month, saying the platform had been used to launder more than $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency since its creation in 2019, including hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funds stolen by North Korean hackers. The action came after the department took similar steps against the mixer Blender.io in May.
Read More: Crypto Mixer Used by North Korea Slapped With US Sanctions
Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network alleged in a lawsuit Tuesday that its former money manager, Keyfi and its founder Jason Stone, stole millions of dollars worth of Celsius assets, including by converting them into hundreds of NFTs, and using Tornado Cash to cover their tracks. Stone sued Celsius last month, accusing the firm of fraud and cheating him out of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in pay.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
