Founders of crypto mixer arrested, sanctioned after US cracks down on Tornado Cash
U.S. government officials on Wednesday started cracking down on co-founders of the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, just days after a federal judge decided that the government had the authority to sanction them
WASHINGTON — U.S. government officials on Wednesday started cracking down on the co-founders of the virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, just days after a federal judge decided that the government had the authority to sanction them.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Russian national Roman Semenov, one of the three co-founders of Tornado Cash, for allegedly supporting the North Korean hacking organization Lazarus Group, among other things.
Also Wednesday, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging Semenov and Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, from Auburn, Washington, with conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and other crimes. Storm was arrested in Washington on Wednesday by federal officials.
Semenov is believed to be in Dubai.
Tornado Cash and other mixing services combine various digital assets, including potentially illegally obtained funds along with legitimately obtained funds, so that illegal actors can obscure the origin of the stolen funds.
Tornado Cash was sanctioned in August 2022, accused of laundering billions in virtual currency since its creation in 2019. The Justice Department says Tornado Cash facilitated more than $1 billion in money-laundering transactions, including hundreds of millions for Lazarus Group, whose criminal activities U.S. officials say have helped finance North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Treasury says Tornado Cash systems were used, among other things, to
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