Tornado Cash accused of contributing to the development of nuclear weapons

The U.S. Treasury Department today updated its sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. The agency believes that the crypto mixer still plays a significant role in North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

In a November 8 announcement, the Treasury Department said it had «removed from the list and simultaneously reclassified» Tornado Cash as a sanctioned entity. The government department reiterated its claims that the crypto mixer was involved in laundering $ 455 million worth of cryptocurrencies stolen by hackers from the Lazarus Group.

Tornado Cash is now charged with «facilitating malicious cyber activities that support the [зброї масового знищення] program of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — ed.).» The initial sanctions did not link Lazarus Group to North Korea’s nuclear program.

«Today's sanctions target two key nodes of the DPRK’s weapons program: its reliance on illicit activities (including cybercrime) to generate revenue, and its ability to procure and transport goods for weapons of mass destruction development,» said Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in a statement.

North Korea’s nuclear program is back in the spotlight after the country launched a ballistic missile over Japan in October. For decades, the rogue state has been under sanctions from world leaders, but this did not prevent it from supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and threatening the Asian region with the use of nuclear weapons, using the help of cryptocurrency hackers.

Yesterday it became known that hackers from North Korea tried to steal funds from an Israeli cryptocurrency platform, and the loot was also planned to be used to sponsor North Korea’s nuclear program.

On November 7, a hacker who stole about $ 28 million from the hot wallet of the Deribit cryptocurrency exchange transferred $ 2.5 million to the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer. Despite the platform’s continuing popularity, Tornado Cash is experiencing a significant drop in the number of active users due to the imposition of sanctions by the US Treasury Department and the arrest of the service’s developer, Alexei Pertsev.