all about cryptop referances
After the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) bans Tornado Cash and a number of associated Ethereum-based addresses, an anonymous Tornado Cash user has dusted off a number of well-known wallets associated with ENS domain names. Onchain data shows that a number of celebrities and organizations received 0.1 Ether from the platform. Blockchain researchers indicate that Linkin Park’s Steve Aoki, Youtuber Logan Paul, the address of Ukraine Crypto Donations, comedian Jimmy Fallon, sneaker company Puma and rap star Snoop Dogg are among the recipients.
Things got interesting after the recent US government ban on ethereum (ETH) mixer Tornado Cash after a number of well-known organizations and celebrities received funds from the sanctioned platform. The organizations and celebrity addresses are publicly known because many of them purchased Ethereum Name Service domains and others have shared their public addresses by displaying their valuable non-fungible tokens (NFT).
For example, it is publicly known that “Shady_Holdings” is an account on Opensea and the associated ethereum address is linked to Marshall Mathers, otherwise known as rap star Eminem. However, Mathers was lucky and didn’t get dusted like some of the other famous NFT collectors who received OFAC-banned ethereum.
Someone is out dusting a bunch of wallets from Tornado with 0.1 ETH lmaaaaooooo pic.twitter.com/xsmiyM8sxq
— joseph.eth (@josephdelong) 9 August 2022
It is not guaranteed that the ENS domain names that were dusted are directly connected to the registered names, since anyone can register an ENS name if it has not been taken yet. But the public is aware of many individuals and companies that have disclosed purchases of ENS domains, such as when American beer maker Budweiser bought the beer.eth ENS name for $96K on August 11, 2021. A few celebrities who bought expensive blue chip NFTs like Bored Apes or Cryptopunks have bought these NFTs with registered ENS domains with their actual names.
On August 9, 2022, reports detailed that an anonymous Tornado Cash user dusted or sent small fractions of ETH to a number of ENS names apparently linked to celebrities and well-known organizations. The sender sent 0.1 ETH worth $168 to a large number of addresses, some of which he allegedly belongs to the sneaker giant Puma and the ether address of Ukraine Crypto Donations. Furthermore, ENS names allegedly linked to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz were also sent a small fraction of the so-called “processed ether”.
Onchain data shows that Snoop Dogg’s alias ENS name “Cozomo de’ Medici” was dusted. Youtuber Logan Paul, Linkin Park’s Steve Aoki, popular NFT artist Beeple, and American TV host and comedian Jimmy Fallon were recipients in the dust. Randi Zuckerberg, Shaquille O’Neal and Dave Chappelle were also dusted off the OFAC-banned airwaves.
A majority of the ENS names have been confirmed to be associated with the actual person because they at one time showed off their beloved NFT. Because it is illegal for an American to interact with Tornado Cash in any way, those who associate with the platform may be investigated, and some may be accused of violating sanctions laws.
Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong got OFAC’d pic.twitter.com/utIY2c3YYt
— db (@tier10k) 9 August 2022
However, because the mass dusting caught the attention of the media and crypto users on social media, it is quite clear that the dusted people and organizations did not intend to receive funds from the sanctioned entity. US laws note that any US citizen or US-based organization that knowingly interacts with Tornado Cash or any of the sanctioned crypto addresses could face penalties such as imprisonment and fines between $90,000 to $308,000 per violation.
What do you think about the mass adoption of Tornado Cash by famous people and organizations? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below.
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or an endorsement or recommendation of products, services or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
