Tornado cash founders charged with money laundering/sanctions violations

[SickDayIn]

Privacy is not a crime. However, it appears that if a person uses a mixer or a something similar to Tornado Cash, the government can call it moneylaundering even if you only want to hide your cryptocoins in a personal private wallet. I wish the Dutch prosecutors will lose in this trial.

This is very true - Privacy is not a crime.

The problem is, if the Government can't track it or tax you on it, they won't let you have it. Perfect example is the banning of Monero and other privacy-based blockchains and coins by certain governments in the world.

Tornado Cash was used by North Korea / Lazarus Group to hide their stolen coins so they could cash it out. I don't believe the developers of Tornado Cash should be punished due to this though.

It's like saying, if Chase Bank has been used by international drug gangs to proceed fiat from crime, does that mean Chase Bank executives should be sanctioned?

[The Cryptovator]

So it's pretty clear that governments don't want to allow crypto mixers anymore. I met Tornado Cash a few days ago. One of my clients sent me funds, and his wallet was related to Tornado Cash. Unfortunately, I received the funds on Binance, and they suspended my account temporarily. Yet it hasn't been solved and is under investigation. After that, this news pops up. So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up. 

[JeromeTash]

So it's pretty clear that governments don't want to allow crypto mixers anymore. I met Tornado Cash a few days ago. One of my clients sent me funds, and his wallet was related to Tornado Cash. Unfortunately, I received the funds on Binance, and they suspended my account temporarily. Yet it hasn't been solved and is under investigation. After that, this news pops up. So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up. 

It's a sanctioned mixer, which means any funds associated with it will be flagged by pretty much any centralized exchange around. Binance has had its own troubles in the past with the US regulators, so I don't think they would want to go sown the same road again.

Have they asked you anything yet regarding the funds you sent there?

[Darker45]

So it's pretty clear that governments don't want to allow crypto mixers anymore. I met Tornado Cash a few days ago. One of my clients sent me funds, and his wallet was related to Tornado Cash. Unfortunately, I received the funds on Binance, and they suspended my account temporarily. Yet it hasn't been solved and is under investigation. After that, this news pops up. So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up.

It's expected that Binance is going to be stricter now more than ever. Now that they've been slapped with huge fines and even had its founder and former CEO held in the US for his sentencing, they must already be walking on eggshells right now.

I hope they would allow you to at least make a withdrawal though. If that transaction would cost you your account, at least you can have your money back first.

It's unfortunate, but it seems that at this point in time, funds coming from mixers shouldn't anymore cross paths with centralized exchanges. They'll most likely be frozen.

[hugeblack]

So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up. 

They cannot know that the money comes from the mixer, but their verification algorithms will try to freeze any account they suspect, especially if the mixers are of the Tornado Cash type, where there is a Contract Address. Therefore, if you want to enhance your privacy, it is better to use Bitcoin mixers, or at least exchange Bitcoin to Monero and then Back again to Bitcoin.

Contact Binance. They will ask you for the source of the funds. If you are able to prove their source, the account will be restored.

[The Cryptovator]

So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up. 

They cannot know that the money comes from the mixer, but their verification algorithms will try to freeze any account they suspect, especially if the mixers are of the Tornado Cash type, where there is a Contract Address. Therefore, if you want to enhance your privacy, it is better to use Bitcoin mixers, or at least exchange Bitcoin to Monero and then Back again to Bitcoin.

Contact Binance. They will ask you for the source of the funds. If you are able to prove their source, the account will be restored.

I have contacted them. Though they haven't asked for anything yet, the account has frozen. They need 30 working days, according to them, to make a full investigation. After that, they will let me know what the next step is. I have provided proof that I received those funds for marketing through their live support. But it doesn't help unlock my account immediately. A few days remain to reach 30 working days. I will make a post after their decision. Usually I don't store funds for exchange, but those funds are there for daily trading. Still, they allow trades but disable withdrawals. 

[examplens]

Usually I don't store funds for exchange, but those funds are there for daily trading. Still, they allow trades but disable withdrawals. 

Did I understand correctly, the funds you are talking about were sent directly ^{from Tornado source} to Binance?
I know of earlier cases where Binance requested verification for funds deposited directly from the mixer, while it was not the case for mixer -> wallet -> Binance. It is the same starting address where the funds came from.

[logfiles]

They cannot know that the money comes from the mixer, but their verification algorithms will try to freeze any account they suspect, especially if the mixers are of the Tornado Cash type, where there is a Contract Address. Therefore, if you want to enhance your privacy, it is better to use Bitcoin mixers, or at least exchange Bitcoin to Monero and then Back again to Bitcoin.

Contact Binance. They will ask you for the source of the funds. If you are able to prove their source, the account will be restored.

To completely enhance privacy and avoid getting funds blocked and asked for KYC verification in order to have one's funds back, I think it's best to completely avoid centralized exchanges like Binance.

Imagine exchanging Bitcoin to Monero and then back to bitcoin and then sending it to Binance only to be asked about the source of the funds if you want your funds back 

[bbc.reporter]

So I don't know whether Binance will restore my account. However, it seems pretty risky to use any kind of mixer. Either the government or centralised exchanges will catch up. 

They cannot know that the money comes from the mixer, but their verification algorithms will try to freeze any account they suspect, especially if the mixers are of the Tornado Cash type, where there is a Contract Address. Therefore, if you want to enhance your privacy, it is better to use Bitcoin mixers, or at least exchange Bitcoin to Monero and then Back again to Bitcoin.

Contact Binance. They will ask you for the source of the funds. If you are able to prove their source, the account will be restored.

I very much disagree that they cannot know if the money comes from the mixer. Do not use a mixer if your exchange is Binance! Different regulators from different jurisdictions have been pressuring Binance already after CZ was forced to admit that there was moneylaundering that have occured in the exchange. They will certainly be much stricter this time. If you assume that they do not know your coins went through a mixer, prepare to have your accounts and funds frozen.

[Z-tight]

Imagine exchanging Bitcoin to Monero and then back to bitcoin and then sending it to Binance only to be asked about the source of the funds if you want your funds back  

I agree with you, that is the risk with centralized exchanges, and it makes no sense using it if your goal is privacy. If you use mixers, CoinJoin or BTC->XMR->BTC, then don't use centralized exchanges. Binance and any centralized exchange can confiscate customers' funds at anytime, so better to choose p2p exchanges if you don't want to find yourself in such situation.

It's unfortunate, but it seems that at this point in time, funds coming from mixers shouldn't anymore cross paths with centralized exchanges. They'll most likely be frozen.

Yeah, and i believe it has always been that way, there is always a tendency that if your funds is coming directly from a mixer or any privacy solution, it might be frozen.

[The Cryptovator]

Usually I don't store funds for exchange, but those funds are there for daily trading. Still, they allow trades but disable withdrawals. 

Did I understand correctly, the funds you are talking about were sent directly ^{from Tornado source} to Binance?
I know of earlier cases where Binance requested verification for funds deposited directly from the mixer, while it was not the case for mixer -> wallet -> Binance. It is the same starting address where the funds came from.

No, it wasn't directly from the mixer. My clients mixed and received his address. Then he sent it to my Binance. I have provided a screenshot where I talked about sending funds to my clients. So the fund was from my client's address, not from Mixer. But still, I haven't received any resolution from Binance. My account is still under investigation. I am waiting for their response before making an accusation thread. 

[FinneysTrueVision]

Sanctioning Tornado Cash and arresting one of their developers sets a terrible precedent. Tornado Cash isn’t custodial like traditional mixers and its developers have no control over how users decide to use this service.

When the sanctions were first announced, there were some in the Monero community who were almost celebrating the news.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/wkgs4u/people_are_making_the_wrong_generalizations/
Now we are seeing that governments’ strong opposition to privacy has negatively impacted Monero as well. If you give regulators an inch, they will take a mile. Shutting down or severely hampering this one mixer is only the start of increasingly stricter compliance measures and restrictions on users seeking financial privacy.

[Z-tight]

No, it wasn't directly from the mixer. My clients mixed and received his address. Then he sent it to my Binance. I have provided a screenshot where I talked about sending funds to my clients. So the fund was from my client's address, not from Mixer.

That is surprising, as far as i know or thought i did, centralized exchanges wouldn't ask for verification on the source of funds if after mixing you go through a few hops before depositing it into their platform. In this case it was from tornado cash -> wallet -> binance, i would think that would have been enough, but maybe the client should have gone through a few more hops. However, goodluck and i hope you get a good resolution with binance.

[The Cryptovator]

No, it wasn't directly from the mixer. My clients mixed and received his address. Then he sent it to my Binance. I have provided a screenshot where I talked about sending funds to my clients. So the fund was from my client's address, not from Mixer.

That is surprising, as far as i know or thought i did, centralized exchanges wouldn't ask for verification on the source of funds if after mixing you go through a few hops before depositing it into their platform. In this case it was from tornado cash -> wallet -> binance, i would think that would have been enough, but maybe the client should have gone through a few more hops. However, goodluck and i hope you get a good resolution with binance.

Today I received mail that Binance enabled my withdrawal for cryptocurrency. But they are temporarily restricted from using their platforms for trading and p2p trading. However I am happy that at least they allowed me to withdraw my funds from there. It doesn't matter if they don't want to allow me to use their platform. I still have hope since I haven't made any mistakes there. They need more than 15 days to let me know their final decision about account restrictions. I am going to withdraw all the funds into a hardware wallet and unlikely trade in centralised exchanges. 

[Z-tight]

Today I received mail that Binance enabled my withdrawal for cryptocurrency. But they are temporarily restricted from using their platforms for trading and p2p trading.

That is good news for you, i am sure they didn't find a way to 'steal' your coins from their investigations, and this is why they have released it to you. Since they allowed you to withdraw your coins, i believe they would also remove the restriction on your account after sometime, but they may keep a close eye on your account from now on.

I am going to withdraw all the funds into a hardware wallet

Much better, nothing's better that being in control of your funds, safely in an offline device. Though if you are an active trader, you still need to trade on centralized exchanges, but you would only move small amounts into their platform for trading.

[bbc.reporter]

@everyone. If you have followed this news and have stopped, I reckon that you should start following this news again and share every information you can find. Alexey Pertsev will be sentenced on May 14. The verdict of this might become a precedent for other decentralized mixers and privacy coins. A guilty verdict will imply that all privacy in the cryptospace is a crime. I speculate next they will go after self custody. It will be a very headshaking time for the cryptospace.

[examplens]

Tornado Cash is still in operation, at least that's how the authorities serve us.
Poloniex Hacker Transfers Over $3.3 Million Worth of ETH to Sanctioned Tornado Cash

Will they (TC founders) also be responsible for the transactions carried out through Tornado Cash, even though they are in prison and have no influence or benefit from these transactions?

Alexey Pertsev will be sentenced on May 14. The verdict of this might become a precedent for other decentralized mixers and privacy coins.

I see that some were encouraged to say a word against this process link

If it's any consolation, there's hope because Roman Storm (Tornado Cash Co-Founder) has reportedly pleaded ‘not guilty’ to money laundering and other charges.

btw. Anyone can give support to Alexey Pertsev on freealex.nl

[logfiles]

Tornado Cash is still in operation, at least that's how the authorities serve us.
Poloniex Hacker Transfers Over $3.3 Million Worth of ETH to Sanctioned Tornado Cash

It will always be in operation so long as Ethereum network/BSC etc is/are working, or the liquidity is there.

Will they (TC founders) also be responsible for the transactions carried out through Tornado Cash, even though they are in prison and have no influence or benefit from these transactions?

Based on the stupid logic of the Government, I suppose they will.

[examplens]

Here is an update.
Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion.
It is really idiotic to punish the developer, while the co-founder was declared not guilty.

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion in illicit funds using the sanctioned crypto mixer.

Pertsev, a 31-year-old Russian living in the Netherlands, was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court. His lawyers can appeal the decision within 14 days.

https://cryptopotato.com/tornado-cash-developer-found-guilty-of-laundering-1-2-billion-in-illicit-funds/

[bbc.reporter]

It is really idiotic to punish the developer, while the co-founder was declared not guilty.

This is idiotic because they blame him on the usage of the people who have used Tornado Cash. This has created a dangerous precedent on anonymous coins, tools and projects in the cryptospace. It also appears that the developer can be charged for the crimes that another person has done. Does this imply that if a terrorist used a Nokia cellphone to detonate bombs, Nokia is also implicit to the crime? A very headshaking argument.