What is Tornado Cash?
Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial crypto mixer designed to enhance transaction privacy on public blockchains. It uses smart contracts and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs to conceal the onchain link between the sender and receiver of a transaction.
Launched by Roman Storm and Roman Semenov on Ethereum in 2019, Tornado Cash allows users to send and receive cryptocurrency anonymously, without exposing their wallet history. Unlike centralized mixers, Tornado Cash operates entirely onchain through immutable smart contracts, meaning no central party controls the funds.
When a user deposits crypto, such as Ether (ETH), Tornado Cash generates a cryptographic note, which the user can later use to withdraw the same amount to a different address. The protocol was launched to boost privacy in Ethereum-based transactions. Over time, the developers have expanded its functionality to support multiple Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible chains, including BNB