Tornado Cash Seen as Key Tool for NFT Scams Before US Sanctions

Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that was recently slapped with US sanctions, was the preferred tool for laundering illicit proceeds from nonfungible token scams prior to the ban, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises.

The mixer “was the source of $137.6 million of cryptoassets processed by NFT marketplaces and the laundering tool of choice for 52% of NFT scam proceeds before being sanctioned,” the firm wrote in a report released Wednesday. Services offered by platforms like Tornado Cash can be used to mask transactions by mixing tokens from different sources before transferring them to the ultimate recipients -- making ...