Last year, United States authorities banned Americans from using Tornado Cash, an Ethereum coin mixer. But the latest report shows developers have been working on a solution that they hope won’t attract interest from the Feds.
A demo of the coin mixer is set to be released today. The app will allow Ethereum users to send and receive the second-largest crypto by market cap anonymously. However, this time round, it comes with a feature that verifies the user is not a member of the North Korean cybercriminal group or any other illegal organization.
Why Tornado Cash was Banned in the US
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash last August on the grounds that criminals from the notorious North Korean hacker organization, Lazarus Group, were using the platform to launder stolen money.
The agency pointed to Ronin Bridge exploit, where over $600 million from the play-to-earn game Axie Infinity was stolen and later sent to a Tornado Cash wallet.
Now, the new coin mixer dubbed ‘Privacy Pools’ seeks to pick up where Tornado Cash left off, but this time in a way that US authorities will not interfere. The main man behind the platform, Ameen Soleimani, who was an early contributor to Tornado Cash, says Privacy Pools will allow users to reveal to the public that their funds are not linked to any bad actor through a zero-knowledge proof.
Blockchain Firm Disagrees With US Authorities on Their Findings
The US authorities alleged that over $7.5 billion in illegal funds were passed through Tornado Cash since its launch in 2019. However, blockchain data firm Elliptic disputed the report stating that of the $7.5 billion that passed through the platform, only $1.5 billion was illegal.
Coin mixers are among the many things targeted by US authorities since the crackdown on the crypto industry began. The agencies claim that such platforms are only favored by criminals.
However, this crackdown has largely been considered as ‘regulatory-by-enforcement,’ which many say is not helping the industry. Now crypto players want clear regulation to be established and are hoping that they can still develop tools that protect their privacy.
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