Cryptocurrencies
Crypto Mixer Tornado Cash’s Accounts Are Disabled After US Sanctions
- Service targeted by Treasury over use by North Korean hackers
- Website, emails associated with Tornado no longer available
The Tornado Cash website.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
After the US Treasury Department said it had barred American companies and individuals from using a so-called crypto mixer known as Tornado Cash, fans of the service rallied in support of the founders of the popular protocol. Tornado Cash allowed users to obfuscate their crypto transactions; the Treasury alleged that North Korean hackers and other entities had relied on it to launder illicit gains totaling more than $7 billion.
But within hours, those fans (and critics) were reacting to something else: the erasure of accounts and websites linked to Tornado Cash from the internet.