How to Buy Tornado Cash (TORN) on LBank

Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial privacy protocol originally built on the Ethereum blockchain. It is designed to provide users with financial anonymity by breaking the on-chain link between a sender address and a recipient address. This is achieved through a technical process that uses zero-knowledge proofs, specifically a cryptographic method known as zk-SNARKs. The protocol functions through a system of shared pools. When a user deposits funds into one of these smart contract pools, they receive a private cryptographic key or proof. To retrieve the funds, the user provides this proof, which allows them to withdraw the assets to a completely new and unconnected address. Because the withdrawal is verified using zero-knowledge proofs, the smart contract can confirm that the person has a valid claim to the funds without publicly revealing which specific deposit corresponds to that withdrawal. This effectively mixes the funds within the pool and obscures the transaction history. The project is governed by a Decentralized Autonomous Organization known as the Tornado Cash DAO. The native token associated with this ecosystem is called TORN. This token serves primarily as a governance tool, allowing holders to participate in the decision-making process for the protocol. TORN holders can propose and vote on various upgrades, such as adding new pools for different assets, adjusting protocol parameters, or managing the community treasury. The token was historically distributed to early users through airdrops and was also earned through a process called anonymity mining, which rewarded users for providing liquidity and privacy to the system. The developers of the project decentralized the protocol in 2020 by relinquishing their administrative keys, making the smart contracts immutable and autonomous. This decentralized nature led to a high-profile legal battle. In 2022, the United States Treasury Department placed sanctions on the protocol, citing its use by malicious actors for money laundering. However, following a significant legal challenge, reports indicate that the sanctions were officially lifted in March 2025. A federal court ruled that because the smart contracts are immutable code not owned by any single entity, they do not qualify as property that can be sanctioned. This ruling reaffirmed the status of the protocol as a piece of open-source software and shifted the regulatory focus toward individual users and centralized service providers rather than the decentralized code itself. The project remains a core part of the Web3 privacy landscape, representing the ongoing tension between the desire for personal financial privacy and the requirements of regulatory oversight in the digital asset space. Learn more