Crypto Mixing Protocol Tornado Cash Get $1.8 Billion In Only Half Year 2024

Key Points:

• Crypto mixing protocol Tornado Cash saw a significant recovery in 2024, receiving over $1.8 billion in deposits in the first half of the year.
• The mixer is increasingly used for laundering funds from major hacks, with recent large transfers linked to the Poloniex exchange, HECO Bridge, and Orbit Chain breaches.
• Despite the sanctions and legal actions against Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, the protocol’s decentralized nature makes it difficult for authorities to control its usage effectively.

Crypto Mixing Protocol Tornado Cash Sees Significant Recovery in 2024

According to blockchain analytics company Flipside Crypto, crypto mixing protocol Tornado Cash received more than $1.8 billion in deposits in the first half of 2024 alone, reflecting a 45% increase from the total deposits of the previous year.

Originally designed to preserve privacy in the decentralized world of cryptocurrency, mixing services like Tornado Cash pool funds from various transactions before redistributing them, making it difficult to trace the original sources.

The privacy feature has, however, attracted bad actors looking to launder illicit assets. Recently, Tornado Cash saw a surge in funds linked to major hacks. Hackers who stole over $100 million from the Poloniex exchange last year funneled $76 million through Tornado Cash in the past two months. Similarly, HECO Bridge and Orbit Chain hackers transferred $166 million and $47.7 million, respectively, to the mixer this year.

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis noted in a recent report that mixers began to recover in 2024, correlating with the overall increase in market activity. Among the mixing services, Tornado Cash, WasabiWallet, and JoinMarket exhibited the fastest growth.

Challenges in Policing Decentralized Mixers Despite Sanctions

Despite the severe sanctions imposed by the US Treasury for its role in laundering over $455 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by the North Korea-affiliated hacking group Lazarus, Tornado Cash’s decentralized nature makes it challenging for authorities to control its usage effectively. Monthly deposits to crypto mixing protocol Tornado Cash fell by more than 90% following the sanctions, but the protocol’s revival underscores the difficulty of eradicating nefarious activities from the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev remains in prison as his legal team appeals his five-year and four-month sentence for facilitating the laundering of $1.2 billion in illicit assets through the mixer. A Dutch court recently denied Pertsev’s bail with ongoing legal battles surrounding the controversial protocol.

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