- Tornado Cash co-founders are raising funds for legal fees against the US government.
- The company is facing a setback as platforms shut down its fundraising campaigns.
- After GoFundMe, Arbitrum shut down a Tornado Cash Trail fundraiser.
Tornado Cash, the notorious crypto mixer led by co-founders Alexey Pertsev, Roman Storm, and Roman Semenov, recently turned to the public after the US government leveled a mountain of money laundering and sanction violation charges against them.
In the wake of these legal challenges, the Tornado Cash co-founders explored numerous avenues, including launching GoFundMe campaigns and DAO proposals. However, their efforts hit a roadblock when GoFundMe shut down their campaign. The company faces another setback as Arbitrum takes down a proposal for a trial fundraiser.
Author Pulls Tornado Cash Trial Fundraiser
The Tornado Cash Trail fundraiser sought to allocate nearly $1.3 million worth of ARB tokens from the community wallet in support of the company’s eponymous founders, Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. The campaign also aimed to bolster public relations and advocacy efforts promoting privacy-focused technologies.
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Initially proposed by a pseudonymous delegate known as DK on March 7, the proposal called for a “robust legal defense” for the developers. However, the proposal was taken down at the author’s request, as confirmed by an Arbitrum spokesperson.
While the reasons behind the sudden takedown remain unclear, the proposal could have considerably helped the case.
The DOJ alleges malicious actors illicitly funneled over $1 billion in cryptocurrency through Tornado Cash. The accusations come at the heels of the crypto mixing platform’s notoriety among hackers and scammers looking to mask their wallet addresses, particularly North Korean hacking collective Lazarus Group.
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Supporters argue that Tornado Cash only provides a tool for decentralized money transmission and does not directly engage in money transmission itself. The crackdown on the platform has also been seen as a threat to developers working on privacy-oriented applications, with former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden endorsing raising funds for the trial.
On the Flipside
- Stablecoin issuer Tether recently deployed a new wallet-freezing policy that allows the US government to target and freeze wallets linked to sanctioned entities.
- Tornado Cash’s Founder could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.
Why This Matters
The outcome of the Tornado Cash Trial could shape how users use privacy tools in Web3 and beyond. The sudden takedown of fundraising campaigns can certainly hinder the trial.
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