Can a decentralized system ever be truly regulated? If so, where does that leave privacy?
The Tornado Cash website.
Photographer: Luke MacGregor/BloombergVictoria Vergolina
- Listen to Bloomberg Crypto on the iHeartRadio App
- Listen to Bloomberg Crypto on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Bloomberg Crypto on Spotify
Put a whole bunch of crypto transactions into a blender and lock them up in black box - what do you get? Something metaphorically similar to the experience of using a decentralized app called Tornado Cash. The cryptocurrency mixer allows users to move their tokens around anonymously. But federal regulators say cyber criminals have used the service launder money. Tornado Cash was recently sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury.
Privacy is a key objective of many crypto proponents. And it’s one of the features that makes the asset class attractive to some investors. If this principle can’t be guaranteed, some say crypto’s utility becomes questionable.
Emily Nicolle joins this episode to discuss whether or not a decentralized service can truly be regulated, the issue of crypto privacy and the implications of sanctions on Tornado Cash and DeFi more broadly.
Follow us on Twitter @crypto, and subscribe to the Bloomberg Crypto Newsletter at https://bloom.bg/cryptonewsletter
