Role of the Treasury
Officials
Organizational Chart
Orders and Directives
Domestic Finance
Economic Policy
General Counsel
International Affairs
Management
Public Affairs
Tax Policy
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
Inspectors General
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP)
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
U.S. Mint
Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP)
Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR)
Strategic Plan
Budget Request/Annual Performance Plan and Reports
Agency Financial Report
Inspector General Audits and Investigative Reports
Climate Action Plan
Curator
History Overview
Prior Secretaries
Prior Treasurers
The Treasury Building
Collections
Freedman’s Bank Building
At Headquarters
At Our Bureaus 
Top 10 Reasons to Work Here
Benefits and Growth
Diversity 
Veterans Employment
Pathways
How to Apply
Search Jobs
American Families and Workers
Small Businesses
State, Local, and Tribal Governments
American Industry
Revenue Proposals
Tax Expenditures
International Tax
Treaties and Related Documents
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
Reports
Tax Analysis
Tax Regulatory Reform
Treasury Coupon Issues
Corporate Bond Yield Curve
Economic Policy Reports
Social Security and Medicare
Total Taxable Resources
Sanctions
Asset Forfeiture
311 Actions
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
Money Laundering
Financial Action Task Force
Protecting Charitable Organizations
Treasury Quarterly Refunding
Interest Rate Statistics
Treasury Securities
Treasury Investor Data
Debt Management Research
Cash and Debt Forecasting
Debt Limit
Financial Stability Oversight Council
Federal Insurance Office
RESTORE Act
1603 Program
The Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund
Making Home Affordable
Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List)
Consolidated Sanctions List
Search OFAC’s Sanctions Lists
Additional Sanctions Lists
OFAC Recent Actions
Sanctions Programs and Country Information
Frequently Asked Questions
OFAC Civil Penalties and Enforcement
Contact OFAC
Financial Literacy and Education Commission
Mymoney.gov
Innovations in Financial Services
Featured Research
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
Exchange Stabilization Fund
G-7 and G-20
International Monetary Fund
Multilateral Development Banks
Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners
Exchange Rate Analysis
U.S.-China Comprehensive Strategic Economic Dialogue (CED)
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
Small Business Lending Fund
State Small Business Credit Initiative
Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates
Daily Treasury Par Real Yield Curve Rates
Daily Treasury Bill Rates
Daily Treasury Long-Term Rates
Daily Treasury Real Long-Term Rates
 
Treasury Coupon Issues
Corporate Bond Yield Curve
Monthly Treasury Statement
Daily Treasury Statement
USAspending.gov
National Debt to the Penny
Debt Management Overview and Quarterly Refunding Process
Most Recent Documents
Archives
Webcasts
 
U.S International Portfolio Investment Statistics
Release Dates
Forms and Instructions
Reports
Report COVID-19 Scam Attempts
Report Scam Attempts
Report Fraud Related to Government Contracts
Inspectors General
Buy, Manage, and Redeem
Treasury Hunt – Search for Matured Bonds
Cashing Savings Bonds in Disaster-Declared Areas
Frequently Asked Questions
Pay for Results (SIPPRA)
RESTORE Act
Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund
Where is my Refund?
Lost or Expired Check
Direct Express Card
Non-Benefit Federal Payments
Electronic Federal Benefit Payments – GoDirect
Shop for Coin Products
Shop for Currency Products 
Redeem Damaged Currency
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
U.S Mint
 
IRS Auctions
Real Estate
General Property, Vehicles, Vessels & Aircraft
Applications
Frequently Asked Questions
 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
IRS Forms, Instructions & Publications
Refund Status
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act
IRS Forms and Instructions
Savings Bonds – Treasury Securities
Bank Secrecy Act – Fincen 114 and more
OFAC Reporting and License Applications
Treasury International Capital (TIC)
Enterprise Business Solutions (EBS)
Treasury Franchise Fund (TFF)
Administrative Resource Center (ARC)
Shared Services Program (SSP)
TreasuryDirect
Invoice Processing Platform
Historic Treasury Building
Library
Curator
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
U.S. Mint
Press Contacts
Weekly Public Schedule Archive
Webcasts
Media Advisories Archive
Subscribe to Press Releases
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, which has been used to launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019. This includes over $455 million stolen by the Lazarus Group, a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) state-sponsored hacking group that was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2019, in the largest known virtual currency heist to date. Tornado Cash was subsequently used to launder more than $96 million of malicious cyber actors’ funds derived from the June 24, 2022 Harmony Bridge Heist, and at least $7.8 million from the August 2, 2022 Nomad Heist. Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, as amended, and follows OFAC’s May 6, 2022 designation of virtual currency mixer Blender.io (Blender).
“Today, Treasury is sanctioning Tornado Cash, a virtual currency mixer that launders the proceeds of cybercrimes, including those committed against victims in the United States,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks. Treasury will continue to aggressively pursue actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them.”
Treasury has worked to expose components of the virtual currency ecosystem, like Tornado Cash and Blender.io, that cybercriminals use to obfuscate the proceeds from illicit cyber activity and other crimes. While most virtual currency activity is licit, it can be used for illicit activity, including sanctions evasion through mixers, peer-to-peer exchangers, darknet markets, and exchanges. This includes the facilitation of heists, ransomware schemes, fraud, and other cybercrimes. Treasury continues to use its authorities against malicious cyber actors in concert with other U.S. departments and agencies, as well as foreign partners, to expose, disrupt, and hold accountable perpetrators and persons that enable criminals to profit from cybercrime and other illicit activity. For example, in 2020, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed a $60 million civil money penalty against the owner and operator of a virtual currency mixer for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations.
Tornado Cash (Tornado) is a virtual currency mixer that operates on the Ethereum blockchain and indiscriminately facilitates anonymous transactions by obfuscating their origin, destination, and counterparties, with no attempt to determine their origin. Tornado receives a variety of transactions and mixes them together before transmitting them to their individual recipients. While the purported purpose is to increase privacy, mixers like Tornado are commonly used by illicit actors to launder funds, especially those stolen during significant heists.
Tornado is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, a cyber-enabled activity originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that is reasonably likely to result in, or has materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that has the purpose or effect of causing a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain.
Virtual currency mixers that assist criminals are a threat to U.S. national security. Treasury will continue to investigate the use of mixers for illicit purposes and use its authorities to respond to illicit financing risks in the virtual currency ecosystem
Criminals have increased their use of anonymity-enhancing technologies, including mixers, to help hide the movement or origin of funds. Additional information on illicit financing risks associated with mixers and other anonymity-enhancing technologies in the virtual asset ecosystem can be found in the 2022 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment.
Those in the virtual currency industry play a critical role in complying with their Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and sanctions obligations to prevent sanctioned persons and other illicit actors from exploiting virtual currency to undermine U.S foreign policy and national security interests. As part of that effort, the industry should take a risk-based approach to assess the risk associated with different virtual currency services, implement measures to mitigate risks, and address the challenges anonymizing features can present to compliance with AML/CFT obligations. As today’s action demonstrates, mixers should in general be considered as high-risk by virtual currency firms, which should only process transactions if they have appropriate controls in place to prevent mixers from being used to launder illicit proceeds.
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the entity above, Tornado Cash, that is in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons is blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, click here.
For identifying information on the entity sanctioned today, as well as associated virtual wallet addresses, click here.
To report a cyber-crime, contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center here.
For the U.S. government’s 2020 DPRK Cyber Threat Advisory, click here.
For information on complying with virtual currency sanctions, see OFAC’s Sanctions Compliance Guidance for the Virtual Currency Industry here and OFAC’s FAQs on virtual currency here.
###

source