Tornado Cash addresses several privacy and anonymity challenges in the cryptocurrency sector, specifically concerning the traceability of transactions. Initially launched as an experimental software in August 2019, Tornado Cash v1 has evolved into a fully decentralized, non-custodial protocol that facilitates private transactions. The protocol employs smart contracts on the Ethereum network to achieve this privacy level by disrupting the on-chain connection between the sender's and recipient's addresses. This technology is often described as a "decentralized mixer." Due to the immutable nature of the protocol, no transactions can be altered or tampered with, not even by the developers, ensuring the highest degree of privacy for its users.

Roman Semenov, a co-founder of Tornado Cash, is an alumnus of Moscow State University, where he specialized in Quantum Statistics and Field Theory. After completing his studies, Semenov embarked on a career in e-commerce and social media, founding two companies in these sectors. In 2017, he transitioned to the cryptocurrency industry, taking on the role of Chief Software Architect at a foundation dedicated to enhancing Ethereum's scalability. In 2018, he established PepperSec, a security consultancy specializing in white hat hacking, which eventually led to the development of Tornado Cash. Roman Storm, also a co-founder of the protocol, boasts an extensive background in the technology, blockchain, and software industries. His previous experience includes roles as a Software Engineer at Amazon and Marketron. He also held the position of Chief Technology Officer at the POA Network and worked as a Blockchain Developer for Blockchainlabz.nz. In collaboration with Semenov, Storm co-founded PepperSec and initiated the creation of Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash operates as a completely permissionless platform, employing self-executing code. In May 2020, the developers eliminated their administrative keys, ensuring they cannot view or modify any transactions conducted via their protocol. The development team emphasizes their limited control over the protocol, apart from publishing code on GitHub, and argues that financial privacy is a fundamental element of freedom. The cryptographic technique, Multi-Party Computation (MPC), utilized to eliminate their administrative keys results in transactions on Tornado Cash being described as "trustless and completely unstoppable," according to co-founder Roman Semenov. This level of anonymity allows transactions to potentially bypass sanctions. Criticism of the protocol often focuses on its use by hackers, who may exploit Tornado Cash to conceal stolen funds, leading to allegations of its use in money laundering. Despite the protocol's high level of secrecy, some suggest that there may be ways to trace transactions if they involve large deposits and low liquidity. For detailed information about Tornado Cash, please refer to Eulerpool.

As of August 2022, approximately 1.1 million TORN coins are in circulation, with a maximum supply of 10 million. The TORN tokenomics and issuance schedule, as outlined in their whitepaper, are as follows: - 5% (500,000 TORN): Airdropped to early users of Tornado.Cash ETH pools - 10% (1,000,000 TORN): Allocated for anonymity mining in Tornado.Cash ETH pools, distributed linearly over one year - 55% (5,500,000 TORN): Reserved for the DAO treasury, to be unlocked linearly over five years with a three-month cliff - 30% (3,000,000 TORN): Designated for founding developers and early supporters, to be unlocked linearly over three years with a one-year cliff

Tornado Cash operates on the Ethereum network and is safeguarded through zero-knowledge proofs. The Tornado Cash protocol, along with the anonymity mining protocol, has undergone audits by several professional audit firms, including Zeropool.

$TORN commenced trading in February 2021 with an airdrop distributing 5% of its total supply, equating to 500,000 TORN.

Tornado Cash (TORN) was introduced to the market with an initial trading price of $214.29. It reached its peak value at $436.16 in February 2021. However, TORN has subsequently experienced a decline of 95% in its value.

Tornado Cash can be acquired at most major centralized and decentralized exchanges, including Binance, Gate.io, Uniswap, OKX, BingX, CoinW, Sushiswap, and Deepcoin. To access a complete list of available exchanges, find more information on Eulerpool.

On August 8th, 2022, Tornado Cash was officially sanctioned by the United States following a series of allegations regarding the use of the coin mixer in laundering funds from American citizens. The U.S. Treasury Department specifically alleges that over $7 billion in digital assets have been laundered through Tornado Cash over the past three years. The announcement of these sanctions led to a significant price decline, notable trolling incidents, and even an arrest. An anonymous user of Tornado Cash has been sending 0.1 ETH to the public accounts of celebrities and other high-profile individuals, potentially implicating their accounts and raising questions about the implications of these sanctions for cryptocurrency users. In another legal development, a 29-year-old software developer at Tornado Cash has been arrested. Further details can be found on Eulerpool regarding the situation and its ramifications.