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by AlexandrB 1414 days ago
What's the practical difference between the kind of privacy Tornado Cash provides and the kind of privacy offered by a local money laundering operation? If there is none, why should the latter be illegal while the former remains legal?
2 comments

One exists to facilitate privacy, the other exists to facilitate money laundering.

Compare with E2EE Matrix protocol: it does not exist to facilitate criminal communication, but it does facilitate criminal communication.

TC is also different because it is an open source protocol, not a legal entity or group. You deposit funds into the protocol, and anybody in the network can help you withdraw them by relaying your transaction. It is a set of rules that any group of people can follow to allow for private transactions, and the same protocol can run on many blockchains.

Writing is used by criminals. Should writing be made illegal?