> Did the people who built blockchains with built-in mandatory mixing (Monero) or optional completely obscured transaction inputs (ZCash) also facilitate money laundering? If not, what is the crucial difference?
Probably not? Tornado Cash provided one service: mixing. (In AML parlance, layering.) We know it was used to launder the proceeds of crimes. The developers knew that too, and they kept working on it. Semenov styled himself as a co-founder and the group advertised open positions on its website. All that looks much more like an enterprise knowingly facilitating laundering than a developer publishing interesting code.
ZCash and Monero look like cash. Tornado (and every mixer I’ve seen) looks like a layering service. Those aren’t illegal per se. But you’re at risk if a criminal uses it. (You’re in deeper shit if it becomes known a criminal used it and you do nothing about it.)
Probably not? Tornado Cash provided one service: mixing. (In AML parlance, layering.) We know it was used to launder the proceeds of crimes. The developers knew that too, and they kept working on it. Semenov styled himself as a co-founder and the group advertised open positions on its website. All that looks much more like an enterprise knowingly facilitating laundering than a developer publishing interesting code.
ZCash and Monero look like cash. Tornado (and every mixer I’ve seen) looks like a layering service. Those aren’t illegal per se. But you’re at risk if a criminal uses it. (You’re in deeper shit if it becomes known a criminal used it and you do nothing about it.)