Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based coin mixer, will use Chainalysis’ ‘Oracle’ software to restrict sanctioned crypto wallet addresses from using its services, the company revealed Friday.
The ‘Oracle’ tool, provided by blockchain security firm Chainalysis, is a smart contract that validates if a crypto wallet address has been included in a sanctions designation. The firm regularly updates its sanctions list provided by the government and intergovernmental organizations.
Tornado Cash uses @chainalysis oracle contract to block OFAC sanctioned addresses from accessing the dapp.
Maintaining financial privacy is essential to preserving our freedom, however, it should not come at the cost of non-compliance.https://t.co/tzZe7bVjZt— 🌪️ Tornado.cash 🌪️ (@TornadoCash) April 15, 2022
Tornado Cash announced that it will restrict the sanctioned addresses provided by the US Treasury Department’s enforcement agency Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The news came a day after OFAC sanctioned a wallet address allegedly associated with the $625 million Ronin Hack. Multiple sources later confirmed that the address is also tied to the infamous North Korean hacker group ‘Lazarus.’ It was further revealed that the hackers have been using Tornado Cash’s services to launder money.
“Maintaining financial privacy is essential to preserving our freedom, however, it should not come at the cost of non-compliance,” Tornado Cash tweeted while revealing the latest developments. Meanwhile, the protocol co-founder Roman Semenov later noted that the software has only been added to Tornado Cash’s frontend dApp.
