Tornado cash leaves the US “blacklist”

The US Treasury Department announced today that it would lift sanctions against Tornado Cash, a decision to protect the digital asset industry from North Korea’s abuse, according to an official statement published on its website.

The measure, which reverses the restrictions imposed in 2022, reflects the current government’s position after considering the legal and technical implications of sanctions imposed by Joe Biden’s management into a decentralized platform. Now is Donald Trump’s government Prioritize the impulse to financial innovation among US citizens. However, the treasure maintains its commitment to oversee malicious actors and deals that could benefit the North Korean regime.

A new resolution to withdraw tornado cash from the blacklist arises after an assessment of controls on how economic sanctions interact with the evolving technological environment. A cryptocurrency transaction mixing protocol based on Ethereum allows users to analyze transactions. This sparked controversy when linked to illegal activities.

Now Treasure argues that by eliminating these sanctions, it will promote the development of the digital asset industry. They remain vigilant about possible abuse. The decision is known after the court lifted sanctions against its protocols, as the media reported in January.

“Digital assets present vast opportunities for innovation and the creation of American value,” said Scott Becent, Treasury Department, who emphasized the need to protect the sector from actors such as North Korea to integrate US financial leadership.

The history of tornado cash with US authorities began in August 2022 when the Bureau of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) accused the Bureau of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of promoting more than $455 million in laundry in cryptocurrency, stolen primarily by North Korean group Lazarus.

The sanctions have freed criticism from the cryptocurrency community, marking the precedent for open source software, considering it criminalised privacy.

Since then, the founders of the protocol have faced legal implications with different destinations. Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands in 2022 and sentenced to 64 months in May 2024 for money laundering, with the Roman Storm and Roman Semenov They were accused in the US in August 2023 in a similar positionaccording to Cryptonoticia.

In addition to abolishing cash tornados from the OFAC list, The treasure also eliminated one of his co-founders, Roma Semenov, from the list of approved people.. This action has great significance to Semenov, a fugitive after the charges, to eliminate direct economic restrictions that weighed it in the United States, such as the lockdown of assets and banning transactions with US citizens.

Administrative sanctions have been filed, but criminal charges and storms against him remain in effect, suggesting that his legal situation will depend on the course of the ongoing judicial process. In the case of Lesnov, this It may promote economic movementbut if he is captured, do not exempt him from facing trial.

Other cases similar to Tornado Cash

This treasure decision could affect similar cases, such as another privacy tool facing legal scrutiny, as widely reported in Cryptootics. The developers of Samourai, Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill were arrested in April 2024 and accused of money laundering for promoting anonymous transactions.

His decision, scheduled for the coming months, could be affected by a tornado cash precedent. Elimination of sanctions on decentralized protocols suggests possible reconsideration How authorities will deal with these technologieswhich could benefit the defendant in questioning the legal basis for authorizing open source tools. However, the treasure emphasizes continuing to monitor inappropriate use that maintains pressure on developers.

Since its initial sanctions, Tornado Cash has unleashed global debate on privacy regulation in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Software is neutral and its misuse falls on the actorI’m not a creator.

Platforms that operate through immutable intelligent contracts continue to function despite sanctions and prove the challenge of regulating decentralized technologies.

Treasure ensures that his approach is now practical and seeks to balance innovation and security, and warns Americans about the risk of interaction with platforms that malicious actors can exploit.

After learning of the Treasury announcement, the price of the Cash Tornado Protocol cryptocurrency, broke, was taken from 63.9% from 7.5 US$, reaching $14.3 at the end of this report.

For the community, the news represents progress in the defense of financial privacy in the sense that it transcends tornado cash and reaches cases such as Samourai wallets. Developers are hoping for results that reflect this new position.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance reaffirms its commitment to combat illegal funding, particularly the North Korean weapons program, but it chooses its approach. There is no direct punishment for the underlying technology. The future of the founders of Tornado Cash and other similar projects will depend on how they evolve into both legal and judicial interpretations in this field in rapid transformation.