Despite facing sanctions, Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash (TORN) has seen substantial activity in 2024, with over $1.9 billion deposited in the first six months, according to crypto analytics service Flipside. However, activity has slowed in July, attracting only $65.1 million in deposits.
Tornado Cash, designed to enhance transaction privacy by mixing funds, does not rely on the Total Value Locked (TVL) metric to gauge its activity accurately. TVL, which measures the value of assets deposited in a decentralized application, is not typically used for Tornado Cash. Instead, users deposit funds to withdraw them in an anonymized manner, unlike most decentralized finance services where funds remain locked for extended periods.
Despite this, data from DeFiLlama indicates notable growth in Tornado Cash’s TVL. The protocol started the year with under 160,000 ETH and now holds nearly 168,600 ETH. In U.S. dollar terms, this represents an increase from $374.4 million to $572.82 million, factoring in asset value growth.
This significant inflow underscores the ongoing demand for privacy-focused services in the crypto space, even as regulatory pressures and sanctions persist.