Tornado.Cash launches new governance token $TORN

Tornado.Cash announced the launch of a new governance proposal wherein users will gain governance rights through the TORN Token.

The Torn token is an ERC-20 compatible token with a fixed supply that governs Tornado.Cash. TORN holders can make proposals and vote to change the protocol via governance.

However, the protocol stated that TORN is not a fundraising device or investment opportunity. It will remain non-transferable until the community decides that unlocking transfers via a governance vote, not earlier than 45 days following deployment, would comply with all applicable laws.

The initial distribution of TORN would be as follows:

• 5% (500,000 TORN): Airdrop to early users of Tornado.Cash ETH pools
• 10% (1,000,000 TORN):Anonymity mining for Tornado.Cash ETH pools, distributed linearly over one year.
• 55% (5,500,000 TORN): DAO treasury, will be unlocked linearly over 5 years with a 3-month cliff
• 30% (3,000,000 TORN): Founding developers and early supporters, will be unlocked linearly over 3 years with 1-year cliff

Tornado Cash stated that early users of the platform should have a say in governing the protocol and as such early adopters will receive an airdrop of TORN.

Source: Dune Analytics

Some users have already received TORN airdrops and data from Dune Analytics shows that ETH deposits into the Tornado.Cash pool has increased significantly of late, reaching an all-time high just days before this announcement.

There is mixed sentiment around this announcement, since Tornado.Cash has typically been used by hackers to move stolen funds, a few users were displeased that these addresses would be rewarded in such a scenario.