TORN, attached to Tornado Cash's mixing protocol, faced a severe value slump after Binance, the major cryptocurrency exchange, announced on November 26th the removal of the asset.
Investors watch as TORN slides from $3.90 to $1.66 in a rapid, 57% downfall, triggered by Binance's declaration to stop accepting TORN deposits come December 8, with withdrawals ending in March.
Keypoints
- TORN nosedived by 57% on the heels of Binance's announcement to cut ties with the coin
- Binance halts TORN deposits from December 8, with final withdrawal availability on March 7, 2024
- Caught in regulatory crosshairs, Tornado Cash—a crypto mixing protocol—stands accused by the US of money laundering facilitation
- Binance asserts that TORN no longer aligns with its stringent listing criteria, leading to the abrupt delisting
- This steep dive aligns with Binance's confession of inadvertently offering services to US clients without authorization
Tornado Cash delivers transaction blending capabilities, masking blockchain fund flows—a boon for privacy fans, though torn down by regulators wary of its potential criminal use. This past summer, it felt the heat from the U.S. Treasury over alleged money laundering ties to North Korean hackers and other online felons. Despite legal barriers for Americans, its software chugged along.
But the tide changed last week when US prosecutors filed fresh charges against the creators of Tornado Cash for money laundering conspiracy, pressuring crypto platforms still linked to Tornado Cash to sever those connections.
Enter Binance, a colossal player in the global crypto space, known for eluding regulatory clampdowns through agile jurisdictional maneuvering. Although it claimed to have banned US clients, its worldwide service offering caught attention. The November storm unfolded with a hefty $4.3 billion fine to the Justice Department for alleged lapses in anti-money laundering adherence, wherein Binance admitted it had catered to US users sans proper paperwork.
Under mounting pressure to comply with US standards, Binance's future may involve stripping itself not just of TORN, but also of other tokens under regulatory scrutiny. Alongside TORN's farewell, Binance simultaneously announced delisting three other coins, citing occasional asset terminations during routine reviews when they no longer match 'the high level of standard we expect.'
Privacy supporters of Tornado Cash may view Binance's departure as a betrayal of foundational cypherpunk cruxes, yet law-abiding blockchain firms aiming for mainstream validity might interpret it as a sign of evolution in a critique-ridden sector. Regardless, those clutching TORN find their anonymity beliefs rendered financially deflated as the token's going rate plunges by almost 60% on notable exchanges.
