Security News > 2022 > August > Dutch authorities arrest 29-year-old dev with suspected ties to Tornado Cash

Dutch authorities have arrested a software developer suspected of working with Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service that only two days earlier was sanctioned by the US government for allegedly laundering money for ransomware operators and other cybercriminals.

The move against Tornado Cash came three months after similar sanctions were place on another crypto mixer, Blender.io.

Tornado Cash, which is on the Ethereum blockchain, processes any anonymous transactions, according to the US Treasury, so cryptocurrency stolen by threat groups can be mixed with legitimate digital assets, making them difficult to track.

In a report [PDF] earlier this year, US Treasury wrote that ransomware groups often target larger enterprises in search of a bigger ransom payment and that services like Tornado Cash and Blender help in laundering all that money.

Tornado Cash allegedly laundered more than $455 million stolen by Lazarus, including more than $96 million in digital assets taken in June from blockchain startup Harmony's Horizon Bridge service.

FOID officials said the agency's Financial Advanced Cyber Team began a criminal investigation of Tornado Cash in June, saying that the mixing service "Has been used to conceal large-scale criminal money flows, including from thefts of cryptocurrencies. These included funds stolen through hacks by a group believed to be associated with North Korea."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/08/15/tornado_cash_suspect_arrested/