20-Year-Old "Frosties" NFT Scammer Reveals $1M Laundering Operation Via Tornado Cash

A 20-year-old former NFT scammer testified in a Manhattan federal court, detailing how he used the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash to launder $1 million from a fraudulent "Frosties" NFT project. The testimony came during the money-laundering trial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm.

From "Frosties" NFT Scam to Tornado Cash

Andre Marcus Quiddaoen Llacuna, now 23, told the jury that he discovered Tornado Cash on Reddit as the ideal tool to obscure the illicit origins of his funds. He admitted to joking with his girlfriend about "washing" the money, using the phrase "washy washy" and a soap emoji to signify the laundering process. Llacuna's testimony is part of a government cooperation agreement in hopes of leniency for his own money-laundering case.

• The "Frosties" NFT Scheme: Llacuna and an accomplice promised investors that their "Frosties" NFTs, sold for 0.04 ETH (approximately $200-$300 each), would be featured in a game and could be "bred" to create miniature versions. After selling all 8,888 NFTs, they executed a "rug pull," disappearing with the funds and rendering the NFTs worthless.

Tornado Cash in the Spotlight

Roman Storm faces charges of conspiring to launder money, operating an unlicensed money-transfer business, and violating federal sanctions. Prosecutors allege that Storm profited by facilitating the laundering of over a billion dollars in illicit crypto, including funds from North Korean hackers. Storm's defense argues that he merely created a privacy-enhancing software and cannot control how it is used.

Victim Testimony and Tornado Cash's Defense

The trial has also heard from victims who lost significant amounts of money to crypto scams and found their funds routed through Tornado Cash. One witness reported that her $250,000 life savings were traced to the service, but her attempts to contact Tornado Cash for assistance were met with no response. Another witness, representing the crypto exchange BitMart, testified that a direct request to Roman Storm to freeze assets laundered through Tornado Cash was dismissed, with the response stating the decentralized program could not be controlled by any single entity.

The trial is expected to continue for approximately one month.

Sources

• Tornado Cash Money Launderer Describes Running a $1M NFT Scam at 20, Business Insider.