Recently, the American government, among others, started the hunt for crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The service was banned for Americans and blacklisted. It now appears that one of the founders of Tornado Cash has been arrested by the FIOD in Amsterdam. He may have been involved in laundering large amounts of money.
FIOD investigation crypto mixer
According to the website of the FIOD In June of this year, a cybercrime unit of the organization launched a criminal investigation into Tornado Cash. It was suspected that Tornado Cash makes criminal money flows disappear under the radar on a very large scale. The FIOD also states that at least $1 billion has been laundered by Tornado Cash since 2019.
Within the investigation into Tornado Cash, a 29-year-old suspect was also arrested in Amsterdam on Wednesday 10 August. He is said to be a developer of Tornado Cash and due to his role at the crypto mixer, he is now charged with serious crimes.
“The FIOD arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam on Wednesday 10 August. He is suspected of being involved in concealing criminal money flows and facilitating money laundering with cryptocurrency mixing through the decentralized Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash.”
We suspect a developer (29) of #TornadoCash of involvement in concealment and #money laundering of criminal money flows on a large scale by mixing #cryptocurrency. the man out #Amsterdam was arrested on 10 August and will be arraigned today: https://t.co/UwhDfbzxBk
— FIOD (@FIOD) August 12, 2022
In addition, the FIOD indicates that further arrests are not excluded.
Crypto mixers and crime
It comes as no surprise that the FIOD launched a criminal investigation into Tornado Cash and that this service was banned in the United States. from a report from chainalysis recently published revealed that crypto mixers are widely used by criminals.
In fact, this report states that as much as 23% of all assets extracted by mixers such as Tornado Cash come from criminal circles. Government agencies in various countries will not have missed this, and of course it is not something that they find wrong. A strong reaction is actually quite logical.