What Is Tornado Cash And Why Should You Care?

What Is Tornado Cash?

Tornado Cash is a set of smart contracts that let you deposit Ethereum or certain tokens into a shared pool and later withdraw them to a different address. Because many users deposit the same fixed amounts, an outside observer can't easily tell which deposit matches which withdrawal.

Every transaction on a public blockchain is visible to anyone. If someone learns that a wallet belongs to you, they can see your balance and full history. Mixers like Tornado Cash were built to restore some of that privacy.

The core contracts were made immutable in 2020, which means nobody, including the founders, can change or shut them down. They still run on Ethereum today. People use them for ordinary privacy, such as keeping a salary or donation wallet separate from a public one. Criminals have used them too, which is what drew the government's attention.

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Why The US Sanctioned Tornado Cash

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash on Aug. 8, 2022, saying it had laundered more than $7 billion since 2019. That total included hundreds of millions of dollars stolen by North Korea's Lazarus Group, such as proceeds from the $624 million Ronin bridge hack.

The sanctions made it illegal for US persons to interact with the listed contract addresses. Exchanges blocked deposits from Tornado Cash, GitHub briefly removed its code, and some apps cut off wallets that had touched it.

The Court Fight And The End Of The Sanctions

Six Tornado Cash users, backed financially by Coinbase, sued Treasury in 2022 in a case known as Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury. They argued that code nobody owns or controls can't be sanctioned.

On Nov. 26, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed. It ruled that Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts aren't “property” under the sanctions law, so OFAC had exceeded its authority, according to the court's opinion. Treasury then removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list on March 21, 2025.

The Criminal Cases Against Its Developers

Roman Storm (United States)

Co-founder Roman Storm was arrested in August 2023 and tried in New York in July 2025. On Aug. 6, 2025, a jury convicted him of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. It couldn't reach a verdict on the more serious money laundering and sanctions charges.

Prosecutors asked to retry Storm on the deadlocked counts. In August 2026, the judge moved the retrial to April 26, 2027 Storm's motion for acquittal, argued in April 2026, was still undecided and no sentencing date had been set, according to The Block's Aug. 26, 2026 report. Another co-founder, Roman Semenov, was charged in the same case. He remains on OFAC's sanctions list as an individual, a listing Treasury kept when it delisted Tornado Cash, and no arrest has been announced.

Alexey Pertsev (Netherlands)

A Dutch court convicted developer Alexey Pertsev of money laundering on May 14, 2024, and sentenced him to 64 months in prison. He filed an appeal two days later.

Other Mixer Cases

US prosecutors have kept charging mixer operators. In November 2025, the founders of the Samourai Wallet mixer were sentenced to five and four years in prison. Our crypto fines and penalties tracker lists these and other mixer cases.

Tornado Cash Timeline

Source: US Treasury, US Department of Justice, Fifth Circuit, The Block.

Why Should You Care If You Don't Use Tornado Cash?

The Tornado Cash cases matter beyond one mixer because they set rules for the whole crypto industry:

• Privacy on public blockchains. Every payment you make from a self-custody wallet is visible forever. The cases decide how far people can go to keep that history private.
• Liability for code. If writing open-source privacy software can lead to a money transmitting conviction, developers of wallets and DeFi apps face new legal risk.
• Limits on sanctions. The Van Loon ruling means US regulators can't sanction immutable code itself, though they can still sanction people and companies.
• Exchange freezes. Even with sanctions lifted, exchanges may flag, delay or freeze deposits traced to a mixer under their own AML rules. Read more on how KYC and AML rules work.

Risks Of Using A Crypto Mixer

• Frozen funds: exchanges trace deposits and may freeze coins linked to Tornado Cash or other mixers, even when you did nothing wrong.
• Legal uncertainty: using Tornado Cash is no longer a US sanctions violation, but laws differ by country. Check your local rules before using any mixer.
• Tainted coins: you may receive coins from the same pool used by hackers, which can cause problems when you cash out.
• Fake front ends: because there's no official company, copycat websites can steal deposits. Only interact with verified contract addresses.
• Taxes still apply: mixing doesn't change what you owe. Keep records of every deposit and withdrawal.

FAQ

Is Tornado Cash Still Sanctioned?

No. Treasury removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list on March 21, 2025, after the Fifth Circuit ruled the sanctions unlawful. Individuals connected to it can still be sanctioned or charged separately.

Is It Legal To Use Tornado Cash?

In the US, using Tornado Cash no longer violates sanctions, but exchanges can still refuse or freeze funds that passed through it. Rules differ in other countries, so check local law.

Is Tornado Cash Still Working?

Yes. Its core smart contracts are immutable and still run on Ethereum. There's no company behind it, so there's no official support or guaranteed website.

What Happened To Roman Storm?

A jury convicted Storm in August 2025 of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and deadlocked on money laundering and sanctions charges. His retrial on those counts is scheduled for April 2027, and no sentencing date had been set as of late August 2026.

What Is A Crypto Mixer?

A crypto mixer pools deposits from many users and lets each withdraw to a new address, which hides the link between sender and receiver. Tornado Cash, Samourai Wallet's Whirlpool and Bitcoin Fog are examples, and the last two were shut down by US prosecutors.