Jimmy Fallon, Shaq, Mark Zuckerberg's Sister Get Mysterious ETH From Sanctioned Tornado Cash

An anonymous cryptocurrency user has sent small amounts of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) to celebrities’ ETH wallets from sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash (CRYPTO: TORN).

What Happened: On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned privacy tool Tornado Cash for its alleged role in helping launder $7 billion worth of digital assets.

A few hours after the sanctions were announced, small amounts of crypto (0.1 ETH) began appearing in the crypto wallets of celebrities and prominent personalities.

Included in the list of recipients were  TV host Jimmy Fallon, former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong, and Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Notable individuals/companies who just received funds from a government-sanctioned entity:

- Jimmy Fallon
- Shaquille O'Neal
- PUMA
- Randi Zuckerberg
- Logan Paul
- Brian Armstrong
- Steve Aoki
- Ukraine Crypto Donation
- Dave Chappelle
- Beeple

Field day for investigators. https://t.co/9HDJmppzT2

— FatMan (@FatManTerra) August 9, 2022

How it's started How it's going pic.twitter.com/qCdgueyHuq

— Tomb Raider Crypto (@tombRaider_kw) August 9, 2022

Why It Matters: The new sanctions in place make it illegal for any U.S.-based individuals or companies to interact with Tornado Cash’s blockchain. However, it is unlikely that the individuals will be subject to any legal penalties given that the transfers were received unwittingly.

The transfers were made by an anonymous crypto user, likely intended to be a prank on famous entities with Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains.

Price Action: The price of Tornado Cash’s native token TORN was trading at $17.01 at press time, down 20% over the last 24 hours. ETH was trading at $1,686, down 4.74% over the same period, according to data from Benzinga Pro.