Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin revealed that he used Tornado Cash to donate to Ukraine.
Vitalik Buterin said that he used Tornado Cash not to protect himself, but to protect fund recipients.
Vitalik Buterin Announces Using Tornado Cash
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin announced that he used Tornado Cash to donate to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
Buterin made this statement during a swirling Tornado Cash discussion on Twitter.
A community member said that people can use Tornado Cash to donate to Ukraine to avoid their country’s sanctions and not be tracked by the Russian government. In response to this statement, Buterin said that he also used Tornado Cash for exactly this purpose.
I'll out myself as someone who has used TC to donate to this exact cause.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) August 9, 2022
Buterin said his main goal is to protect Ukrainian fund recipients.
“My intention was to protect buyers, not myself. The Russian government already knows my position on the Ukraine issue.”
Buterin’s comment on Tornado Cash came a day after the US Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash. The regulator banned US and US-based companies from interacting with the protocol.
Tornado Cash Move Has Come From Crypto Companies
Following the sanction, company Circle, behind USDC, announced that it had blacklisted wallet addresses linked to Tornado Cash and froze 75,000 USDC.
Today, blockchain infrastructure company Infura and Alchemy have also blocked access to Tornado Cash.
These incoming sanctions also caused the reaction of many crypto community members. Crypto lobbying organization Coin Center has argued that this move is unconstitutional.
