The U.S. Department of Justice rebuffed Roman Storm’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against him late Friday.
Crypto mixing is 'not a crime,' says CryptoQuant CEO
The arrest of the founders of Samourai Wallet led to widespread concerns in the crypto community that the U.S. government was attempting to crack down on the industry
Samourai Wallet Charges Raise Existential Questions for Privacy Tech
Co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill are charged with money laundering related to the privacy-protecting wallet.
Tornado Cash Dev Roman Storm Moves to Dismiss Indictment Over Crypto-Laundering Allegations
Dutch Prosecutors Seek 64-Month Jail Sentence for Tornado Cash Dev Alexey Pertsev
The judge will deliver the verdict on May 14, the court said.
Tornado Cash Dev Pertsev’s $1.2B Money Laundering Allegations Detailed Ahead of Dutch Trial
Pertsev’s trial is set to take place on March 26 and 27 in a ‘S-Hertegonbosch court.
North Korean Hackers Used Tornado Cash to Launder $12M From Heco Bridge Hack: Elliptic
Notorious North Korean hackers Lazarus Group has returned to sanctioned coin mixing service Tornado Cash to launder $12 million worth of ether {{ETH}}.
Tornado Cash Reportedly Suffers Backend Exploit, User Deposits at Risk
User deposits on decentralized privacy protocol Tornado Cash are reportedly at risk following the insertion of malicious code in the protocol’s back end, according to a Medium post by community member Gas404.
Axie Infinity Co-Founder Losses Over $10 Million In Hack, AXS Holds Firm
Two personal crypto wallets belonging to Jeff “Jihoz” Zirlin, the co-founder of Sky Mavis, the company behind the popular play-to-earn (P2E) game Axie Infinity, have been compromised, reports on February 23 show.
Following this hack, over $10 million worth of various crypto assets were stolen, primarily RON, the native token of Ronin Chain, the Ethereum sidechain designed explicitly for Axie Infinity.
Axie Infinity Co-Founder Losses Over $10 Million In Hack
According to Lookonchain data, the hacker got away with 3.2 million RON worth over $9.53 million. The co-founder also lost over $834,000 worth of Wrapped Ethereum (ETH). There were other small amounts of PIXEL, the native token of Pixels–a gaming platform; SLP, the coin priming Axie Infinity’s metaverse; and USDC, a stablecoin.
Zirlin held around 164 AXS worth less than $1,300. The hack has shown an unexpected holding pattern, especially among project founders. That the co-founder only held 164 AXS is strange, considering the role played in Axie Infinity. The P2E game has distributed billions of assets since its popularity peaked in the last bull cycle.
Stolen assets, Lookonchain data reveals, were reportedly converted to ETH and deposited into Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer whose co-founders have an ongoing court case in the United States.
In charges brought forward in August 2023, the prosecution team alleges that North Korean hackers used Tornado Cash to launder millions, if not billions, of dollars worth of stolen coins. Some of these tokens were from the Ronin hack, which lost over $600 million in March 2022.
Dedicated To Mission; RON And AXS Post Minor Losses
Zirlin confirmed the hack on X on February 23, emphasizing that it was “limited to my accounts.” The hack did not affect the Ronin chain or Sky Mavis operations. The co-founder also added that the compromised private keys were not connected to the company’s internal systems.
Zirlin said they have “strict security measures in place for all chain-related activities to assuage fears.” The co-founder also remains upbeat, assuring concerned crypto community members that the project will continue pursuing its mission of bringing “economic freedom” to all users.
So far, AXS and RON prices remain stable but lower, looking at the performance in the daily chart. AXS and RON have been edging lower since February 21, cooling off after sharp gains from early Q4 2023.
How the Crypto Industry Responded to FinCEN’s Proposed Mixer Rule
Last October, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed implementing a new regulatory regime for crypto mixing services that would treat the entire class of privacy tools as money laundering threats and force new recordkeeping rules on U.S. people or entities that use them. The industry had a chance to weigh in. Here’s the gist of their responses.
Why Tornado Cash Remains the Most Pivotal Legal Case in Crypto
Edward Snowden has backed a legal defense campaign for Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, coders behind the mixing service. They deserve the support of the crypto community, which has fundamental rights at stake in the case.
Tornado Cash Developers Storm, Pertsev Raise Over $350K for Legal Defense With Support From Snowden
A legal fund for the defense of Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev has received more than $350,675 and public support from Edward Snowden, the former NSA whistleblower.
North Korean hackers have pilfered $3B of crypto over past six years: Report
In 2022, North Korean hackers swiped crypto worth ten times more than the country earned from exports in 2021, according to US cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
Tornado Cash token falls 57% after Binance announces delisting
TORN fell from $3.90 to $1.66 after Binance announced it would no longer carry the coin.
Vivek Ramaswamy unveils crypto policy platform criticizing mixer sanctions
The Republican candidate claimed that mixers are protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
Tornado Cash users file appeal over judgment in favor of US Treasury
The six individuals, supported by crypto exchange Coinbase, have taken a case involving the U.S. Treasury sanctioning Tornado Cash to federal appellate court.
Onyx Protocol exploiter begins siphoning $2.1M loot on Tornado Cash
The bug the Onyx Protocol hacker exploited to steal $2.1 million was previously used by a hacker to extort $7 million from Hundred Finance.
U.S. Treasury Seeks to Name Crypto Mixers as ‘Money Laundering Concern’
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s financial crimes arm is proposing to label crypto mixers as a “primary money laundering concern” in its effort to combat illicit crypto finance, highlighting the terrorist groups that have benefited from anonymous crypto funds, including possibly Hamas.
Mistake or money laundering? User pays $1.6 million for CrypToadz NFT
The purchase was funded from a digital wallet, which has been a part of the chain of transactions, anonymized by the Ethereum coin mixing service Tornado Cash.
Tornado Cash co-founder pleads not guilty to all charges: Report
Roman Storm, facing charges related to Tornado Cash allegedly facilitating money laundering, has been free on bail following his arrest by U.S. authorities in August.