Tornado Cash protocol
Overview
Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial privacy protocol on Ethereum that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-SNARKs) to break the on-chain link between deposit and withdrawal addresses. It allows users to deposit ETH or ERC-20 tokens and withdraw them from a different address, enhancing transaction privacy. The protocol was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's OFAC in August 2022; those sanctions were lifted on March 21, 2025 after the Fifth Circuit (Van Loon v. Treasury) ruled OFAC had overstepped its authority in designating the immutable smart contracts. Co-founder Roman Storm was separately convicted in August 2025 on one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, with the jury deadlocking on the money-laundering and sanctions counts. (Status as of 2026-07-15.)
Within the DeFi Intel graph, Tornado Cash connects to 21 tracked entities, most strongly to Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon.
Relations
Top connections in the DeFi Intel knowledge graph (confidence-weighted, 8 of 21 total).
| Relation | Connected entity | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
deployed_on | Ethereum | 95% |
deployed_on | Arbitrum | 95% |
deployed_on | Polygon | 95% |
deployed_on | Optimism | 95% |
deployed_on | Avalanche | 95% |
deployed_on | BNB Chain | 95% |
sanctioned_by | OFAC | 95% |
deployed_on | xDai | 95% |
Frequently asked questions
What is Tornado Cash?
Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial privacy protocol on Ethereum that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-SNARKs) to break the on-chain link between deposit and withdrawal addresses, allowing users to deposit ETH or ERC-20 tokens and withdraw them from a different address.
What chains is Tornado Cash deployed on?
Tornado Cash is deployed on Ethereum, Binance, Arbitrum, and Avalanche.
Why was Tornado Cash sanctioned?
The protocol was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2022, sparking debate over financial privacy and illicit use.
Sources
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