Financial sanction to mixers

Photo by Espen Bierud on Unsplash

Have you heard about financial sanctions from the US on virtual currency? At least, I have not yet. But the US Department of Treasury has issued sanctions on two crypto services: Blender.io and Tornado Cash.

To clarify, the US sanctions on tools but not target specific entities or groups of people.

So why bother to sanction something that the government probably won’t be able to sanction in the first place?

What is a mixer?

A cryptocurrency mixer, sometimes referred to as a tumbler, is a tool for money laundering. The sole purpose of the invention is to make transactions untraceable.

How to mix?

Even crypto is pseudo-anonymous, but it is traceable through your wallet address. A mixer is a black box service to filter your…