Vitalik Buterin Defends Tornado Cash, Once Used for Ukraine Donations

The intense power of Tornado Cash doesn’t necessarily have to be destructive, argues Mr. Buterin.

Vitalik Buterin Defends Tornado Cash, Once Used For Ukraine Donations

The crypto mixing service Tornado Cash has been at the center of attention on Twitter recently, as many crypto experts and enthusiasts are participating in a heated debate over yesterday’s ban by the U.S. Treasury.

Ethereum (ETH) Founder Shows Support

While waiting on the grand launch of the highly anticipated ETH 2.0 update, Ethereum’s founder Vitalik Buterin joined the ongoing debate along with Jeff Coleman, a crypto analyst and Ethereum (ETH) holder. “Wanting to donate to Ukraine is a great example of a valid need for financial privacy,” says Mr. Coleman. In addition, he politely requested a “documented example” of such a case from the Twitter community. One of the most influential people in the crypto world, Vitalik Buterin, responded: “I’ll out myself as someone who has used TC to donate to this exact cause.”

As revealing one’s identity is contradictory to the cause of Tornado Cash, Vitalik Buterin further explained that he used the service for donations to Ukraine, but not to conceal his own identity. Rather, the founder of Ethereum (ETH) wanted to protect the recipient’s identity.

Ukraine Prefers Crypto Donations

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Alex Bornyakov, has recently stated that cryptocurrency donations are a vital part of the defense mechanism against the abusive neighbor. When compared to donations sent through banks, crypto payments give “flexibility and speed that saves our soldiers’ lives,” says the Minister.

However, it is as clear as mud as to what extent Tornado Cash plays a part in overall crypto donations to Ukraine and whether the privacy provided by blockchain is enough to conceal sensitive information from the enemy.

Cross Chain Bridges Constantly Hit by Tornado

Those suffering most from North Korean hackers, enabled by Tornado Cash, are the cross-chain bridges. For instance, the Ronin bridge saw a hack of over $600 million, the biggest crypto hack to date. Furthermore, the freshly hacked Nomad and Harmony bridges set their users aback over $290 million, all of it to blame on Lazarus Group. Not to mention, the North Korean hackers attempted to drain the DeBridge just two days ago, but with no success.

On the Flipside

Learn more about how to donate crypto to the Ukrainian Army directly

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Learn more about Harmony Bridge’s $100M hack carried out by Lazarus Group

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Read more about the barbarous regime’s unlucky attempt to drain the DeBridge

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Tadas Klimasevskis

Tadas Klimaševskis is a Lithuanian journalist at DailyCoin, specializing in covering the lighter side of the crypto industry such as memecoins and pop culture in the metaverse. He has experience as a music artist, English language teacher, and freelance writer, and uses his creative writing skills to summarize valuable information in his work. He is also a strong believer in the potential of blockchain and spends his free time listening to music, traveling, and watching basketball games.