A direct inquiry was filed by crypto-friendly Congressman Tom Emmer in August 2022, criticizing the U.S. Treasury for authorizing the decentralized crypto mixer known as Tornado Cash.
It took a while, but the federal agency has finally written back to the congressman with an answer. They began by mentioning the several lawsuits contesting the Tornado Cash classification that have been filed against Treasury and OFAC and are still ongoing in the Northern District of Florida and the Western District of Texas.
The letter says:
“Because Tornado Cash remains the subject of active litigation, it would not be appropriate for the Treasury to comment further on the entity’s designation.”
The letter continued by saying that OFAC has issued information and guidelines about Tornado Cash, and that this information and guidance may answer some of the issues that Emmer had raised in his inquiry.
At the time that this article was written, OFAC had not identified any of the specific founders, developers, members of the DAO, users, or any other people engaged in promoting Tornado Cash.
Nevertheless, all of Tornado Cash’s assets and interests in properties have been frozen, and U.S. people are not permitted to trade with Tornado Cash or deal in its property and interests in property unless they have received a direct license to do so from the agency.
The agency modified the Tornado Cash sanctions in November as it intensified its crackdown on the platform for facilitating harmful cyber operations that eventually promote North Korea’s nuclear weapons development.
Interestingly, Chainalysis has shared that the sanctions intended against Tornado Cash have been unable to totally halt its use, but they have hampered the service.
