SpankChain co-founder teases Tornado Cash 'sequel'

Crypto Ecosystems • February 26, 2023, 4:29PM EST
The Block

Quick Take

  • Ameen Soleimani, the co-founder of SpankChain and Reflex Labs, has teased a revival of sorts for the controversial Ethereum transaction mixer, Tornado Cash.

  • Tornado Cash was sanctioned by American authorities last year.

Ameen Soleimani, the co-founder of SpankChain and Reflex Labs, has teased a revival of sorts for the controversial Ethereum transaction mixer, Tornado Cash.

Soleimani's tweet indicated the involvement of Moloch DAO, which provides grants for Ethereum project development. 

“I sincerely hope no one thought we were finished,” said Soleimani.

Transaction mixing protocols like Tornado Cash use a variety of techniques to obfuscate the origin of cryptocurrency, which has attracted widespread scrutiny from regulators. Last year, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control accused Tornado Cash of enabling money laundering by North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus. 

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was arrested last summer by Dutch authorities. Pertsev remains detained until a hearing scheduled this April.


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