The dominant cryptocurrency exchange in the country, Coinbase, has taken a strong stance against the penalties that the United States government has imposed on Tornado Cash, which is a decenthttps://cryptotale.org/what-is-a-decentralized-exchange-dex-and-how-does-it-work/ralized exchange with an emphasis on anonymity.
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, took to Twitter to reveal that the company has thrown its weight behind a legal challenge to the sanctions. According to Grewal, the plaintiffs have filed a motion for summary judgment to reopen Tornado Cash for all.
The plaintiffs argue that the government’s sanctions on Tornado Cash are unconstitutional and that they infringe on the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans. They make four key arguments in their challenge. Primarily, they argue that Tornado Cash is not a foreign “national” or “person” and therefore cannot be sanctioned.
Secondly, they argue that the law only permits the government to sanction a person’s property, and Tornado Cash’s software code is not property. As the third point, they argue that the software’s smart contracts are not owned by anyone, and therefore cannot be sanctioned. Finally, they argue that the sanctions violate the First Amendment by preventing law-abiding Americans from engaging in socially valuable speech.
Obviously, the legal challenge to the sanctions on Tornado Cash is significant for several reasons. Grewal emphasized that it highlights the importance of privacy rights in the digital age, and the potential conflicts between these rights and government regulations. Also, it raises important questions about the legal status of decentralized software platforms and their smart contracts.
Furthermore, Grewal says the motion underscores the role that companies like Coinbase can play in defending the rights of their users and supporting legal challenges to government regulations that they believe are unconstitutional.
