An anonymous user has been sending small amounts of Ethereum via Tornado Cash to hundreds of public wallets in the U.S., including popular celebrities.
Flouting Tornado Ban
An act of rebellion or just random trolling – the antics of the anonymous user have wrongfully implicated celebrities like Jimmy Fallon, Logan Paul, and Steve Aoki in a regulatory mess. These are just a few of the many celebrities who were sent ETH via the now-banned Tornado Cash by this anonymous troll. The user seems to be blatantly flaunting the transactions in the face of the government’s decision to ban the crypto mixer.
Some other wallets that have received ETH from this user via Tornado are that of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, clothing brand Puma, Ukraine crypto donation fund, artist Beeple, and comedian Dave Chappelle.
Treasury Sanctions Tornado Cash
On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) imposed a ban on Tornado Cash for its role in money laundering. The mixer protocol allows users to pool funds and obfuscate the origin of any transaction, making it the ideal tool for illicit activities. The Tornado Cash mixer has been implicated in several major hacks, allowing the perpetrators to muddle the wallet trail. It has been the mixer of choice for the infamous North Korean hacker group, Lazarus, which has siphoned away billions of dollars worth of crypto over 2021. The ban imposed by the Treasury department decrees that all U.S. persons and entities are prohibited from interacting or conducting any transactions with Tornado Cash.
Imposed Sanction Is Pointless
The word around the block is that this ploy intends to point out the absurdity of imposing a sanction on a mixer tool, as users cannot decline incoming funds from such tools. By sanctioning Tornado Cash, U.S. citizens are now legally required to block incoming transactions from their wallets. However, it is impossible to block an incoming transfer on-chain. Therefore, they would have to block addresses that have already sent them these funds through the mixer tool, a process only viable for exchanges or similar businesses. As the matter stands right now, because of these transactions, all these celebrities and popular brands have now interacted with Tornado Cash, thus flouting the Treasury’s sanction. It remains to be seen if the government will take action against these public figures due to something outside their control.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
