Co-founder of SpankChain and Reflex Labs Ameen Soleimani recently teased the potential return of Tornado Cash, a contentious Ethereum transaction mixer, on Twitter.
Soleimani made a suggestion that Moloch DAO, a company that offers funding for the creation of Ethereum projects, might be involved.
Tornado Cash is a protocol for transaction mixing that makes use of a number of strategies to hide the source of cryptocurrencies. Regulators have given these techniques intense attention, with the U.S. The platform was charged by the Office of Foreign Assets Control last year with helping the Lazarus hacker group, which has ties to North Korea, launder money.
Soleimani's remark implies that Tornado Cash is far from over despite the accusations and rising regulatory pressure. The Moloch DAO Twitter account concurred with this opinion when it responded to Soleimani's tweet with a picture of a tornado.
The potential return of Tornado Cash is currently unknown, however it appears that Moloch DAO may be contributing to the project's funding. Developer of Tornado Cash Alexey Pertsev was imprisoned until an April hearing after being apprehended by Dutch officials last summer. Uncertainty exists over Pertsev's arrest's circumstances and any potential repercussions for Tornado Cash's future.
The goal of transaction mixing protocols like TC is to strengthen users' privacy and anonymity when they deal with cryptocurrency. Regulators have criticized these platforms as well, claiming that they encourage criminal conduct including money laundering and terrorism financing. Because of this, regulators' continued scrutiny of the platform and other similar services means that the future of Tornado Cash is dubious.
