Kevin O’Leary Endorses Tornado Cash Clamp Down

Canadian businessman and author Kevin O’Leary also known as Mr. Wonderful has issued a bold statement concerning crypto mixer Tornado Cash. 

While speaking in a podcast during the weekend, the television presenter regarded Tornado Cash as one of those firms with a ‘Crypto Cowboys’ culture that deserves no place in the ecosystem. He believes that restricting the activities of crypto firms which does not agree with established primary regulations is good for the industry.

Kevin O’Leary affirmed that the Ethereum (ETH) based crypto mixer or tumbler and many other criminal-aiding crypto firms are part of the reasons why institutional funding is not coming into the space as it used to.

Tornado Cash Failed to Live up to Crypto Regulations

Tornado Cash has been under a series of probes after it was discovered that over $7 billion has been laundered through its platform. The United States Treasury Department sanctioned the mixer due to this crime. Shortly after, the Dutch authorities arrested Alexey Pertsev, the developer suspected to be behind the advanced technology used to commit the theft. 

Several firms into illicit operations were using the crypto mixer to divert the loot from their criminal activities. To put it differently, these firms plunge cryptocurrencies from their operations into the Tornado Cash pool which in turn, will mix it with other cryptos to obfuscate their source. 

Generally, crypto mixers provide legitimate businesses and individuals with the privacy of business by keeping their wallet source anonymous. 

Meanwhile, bad actors have turned it into their hotbed. Details of transactions are not clear nor are they traceable on the crypto mixers. It was also discovered that many of these crypto mixers do not conduct know-your-customer (KYC) procedures or enhanced due diligence (EDD) on the hackers’ company.

With all these defaults on the part of Tornado Cash, Kevin O’Leary agrees that “At the end of the day, it’s okay to arrest that guy.”

He mentioned that for a level of stability to be experienced in the space, especially in the area of institutional capital, sacrificing Alexey Pertsev and his Tornado Cash is not much of a bother. 

Nevertheless, Kevin O’Leary’s opinion seems to be the odd one among general opinions. Buzzing on many media platforms, several entities have frowned at the U.S Treasury department sanction and the arrest of Alexey Pertsev by the Dutch government.