Top Cryptocurrency news: US Department of Commerce Approves Crypto Mixer Related to Nomad Hack

Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for laundering billions of dollars. 

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) discovered actions of a cyber organisation that the United States has sanctioned, according to a Monday notice. The department charged Tornado Cash with laundering money associated with domestic cybercrimes. Tornado was defined as a virtual currency mixer that disburses cybercrime proceeds.

The $80 million exploit on the DeFi exchange Fei Protocol in April of this year was one such instance of a cybercrime. The culprits used Tornado Cash to transfer the Wrapped Ethereum cash from the protocol to their individual wallets. Because transactions using crypto mixers are meant to be undetectable, it might be challenging to determine where exactly stolen money is kept.

Foreign Assets Control Office Ban on Tornado Cash

Since the cryptocurrency mixer was founded in 2019, the OFAC claimed it had been sanctioned for laundering more than $7 billion in digital assets. It further stated that a portion of the money that had been laundered had ties to a hacker gang operating out of Korea that had already received American sanctions.

Recent Nomad Hack Utilization

The crypto economy most recently saw the Nomad breach, which resulted in a loss of at least $8 million. Although the full scope of the cash loss has not yet been determined, the vulnerability compromised about 41 addresses. The OFAC claimed that after gaining access to the money, the hackers in this hack also used Tornado hack.

U.S. official Brian E. Nelson claimed that Tornado Cash frequently failed to stop malicious online activity. "Tornado Cash has frequently failed to enact adequate controls, despite public claims to the contrary. They failed to prevent the money from being laundered for malevolent cyber actors and took no basic precautions against dangers. The OFAC claimed that Tornado encourages anonymous transactions arbitrarily by concealing their origin, destination, and counterparties with no attempt to ascertain their provenance