Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the news of the United States Treasury removing their sanctions against Tornado Cash.
US Treasury Removes Sanctions on Tornado Cash
The United States Treasury have lifted measure regarding privacy tools built on blockchain, meaning they have removed sanctions on Ethereum-based transaction mixer Tornado Cash. This marks a change in oversight regarding the privacy tools, and the sanctions were lifted as a reassessment of digital finance policies and legal concerns was cited. The news came in a press release on Friday as the Treasury said it reassessed the application of sanctions on decentralised platforms like Tornado Cash.
Last Monday a court filing in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury noted how officials argued regarding the evolving financial technologies and how they required updates on how sanctions laws are applied. While the sanctions have been lifted, the Treasury also noted that it remains vigilant against cybercrime, particularly hacking and money laundering tied to North Korea. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted:
“Digital assets present enormous opportunities for innovation and value creation for the American people. Securing the digital asset industry from abuse by North Korea and other illicit actors is essential to establishing U.S. leadership and ensuring that the American people can benefit from financial innovation and inclusion.”
Back in August 2022 the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed sanctions on Tornado cash as they noted it had failed to implement controls preventing money laundering by cybercriminals. Back then the OFAC stated that the service repeatedly failed to stop illicit funds from being laundered through its platform. This included funds from state-sponsored hacking groups such as those tied to North Korea.
Last Tuesday that Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, laid criticism at the Treasury for ignoring a Fifth Circuit ruling that called for Tornado Cash’s removal from the sanctions list. He argued that the immutable smart contracts are not under the scope of United States sanctions laws and that the government’s application of sanctions to decentralised code was legally incorrect.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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