An alleged Tornado Cash developer was arrested by the Dutch government after he was accused of using the crypto mixing service to help criminals.
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A man walks past the entrance of a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange office on October 19, 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. The number of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges have increased across Istanbul as cryptocurrency investing continues to boom in Turkey.
For those unfamiliar with Tornado Cash, it is a cryptocurrency service that allows digital coin consumers to conduct transactions while hiding their crypto origins and destinations.
Although many experts shared their concerns, saying that criminals can use crypto mixers, government officials still don't consider them illegal blockchain services.
Now, it seems like a crypto employee has already become the proof that digital coin mixers can be used for malicious activities.
Alleged Tornado Cash Developer Arrested by Dutch Government
According to Tech Crunch's latest report, The Dutch FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service) announced that it arrested a 29-year-old guy.
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In this photo illustration of the litecoin, ripple and ethereum cryptocurrency 'altcoins' sit arranged for a photograph on April 25, 2018 in London, England. Cryptocurrency markets began to recover this month following a massive crash during the first quarter of 2018, seeing more than $550 billion wiped from the total market capitalisation.
Also Read: RenBridge Was Used to Launder $540 Million by Crypto Criminals, Research Shows
FIOD officials claimed that this man is a Tornado Cash developer who uses the crypto mixing service to help criminals hide their financial flows.
They added that the suspect also facilitated money laundering. The arrest of the man was confirmed days after the U.S. government decided to sanction Tornado Cash.
"These advanced technologies, such as decentralized organizations that may facilitate money laundering are receiving extra attention from the FIOD," said the Dutch government agency via its official press release.
U.S. Blacklisted Tornado Cash
Because of the risks that Tornado Cash poses, the U.S. Treasury Department decided to blacklist the virtual currency mixer on Monday, Aug. 9, as reported by Ars Technica.
Officials explained that this is needed since the digital coin mixer is believed to have laundered roughly $7 billion in cryptocurrencies ever since it was created in 2019.
Of course, blockchain consumers criticized the decision of the U.S. Treasury Department, saying that it will affect all Americans relying on Tornado Cash.
Recently, thousands of Solena users lost their money after the million-dollar crypto heist.
On the other hand, Pictet Group shared its opinion about cryptocurrency being unacceptable in the private banking sector.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
