When the U.S. government sanctioned coin mixer Tornado Cash, many thought it might spell the end for illicit crypto mixing services. But theyre back and with a glossy new institutional sheen and legit use cases to help traders and funds keep their market moves a “trade” secret.
Tornado Cash is what is known as a mixer, a coin anonymizer that breaks the identifying links in blockchain transactions, providing a certain degree of anonymity for users.
The reasons people use coin anonymizers vary from criminality to ideology. Bad actors can use Tornado Cash to hide their naughty deeds, effectively laundering the proceeds of crime and preventing stolen crypto from being traced to them on the blockchain. Thats why the United States Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the protocol last year.