"US Treasury Sanctions Virtual Currency Mixer For Connections With Lazarus Group"
The United States has recently placed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a leading "crypto mixer" for transactions in virtual currency that US officials describe as a hub for laundering stolen funds, including by North Korean hackers. The Treasury stated that Tornado Cash had been used to transfer at least $96 million of funds stolen in June from crypto exchange service Harmony Bridge and another $7.8 million of the nearly $200 million in cryptocurrency hacked from Nomad, a similar service. Tornado Cash was also used to transfer and mask $455 million of the more than $600 million worth of ethereum, a leading virtual currency, stolen in April via the Ronin Network. Tornado Cash is one of the top mixers, also known as tumblers, which help people hide the movements of their cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum by blending them with the transfers by other users. US officials stated that the mixer services aren't themselves illegal but are frequently used to move illicit funds and that other mixers and anonymity-enhancing technologies in the crypto ecosystem are under scrutiny. The sanctions prohibit US individuals or firms from using Tornado Cash, and if they do so, they will risk losing those funds.