The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus brief in support of Coin Center’s ongoing lawsuit against the Treasury Department and its sanctions watchdog, the Office of Foreign Asset Control. The suit, filed last October, alleges that the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions against crypto mixer Tornado Cash have harmed Americans’ ability to transact privately using the Ethereum network.
It’s critical to recognize that Tornado Cash is simply a tool – punishing the tool itself simply because it can be used by anyone, including bad actors, runs contrary to the values this country was founded upon, said Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith. Blockchain Association stands with Coin Center, advocating for the responsible and lawful use of blockchain technology. Regulatory actions should only be targeted at bad actors who abuse this tool for illegal purposes.
The suit is the second that the advocacy group has filed against the Treasury Department, and the second lawsuit against Treasury over its Tornado Cash sanctions. OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash last August, claiming that North Korean hackers had laundered hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of crypto through the mixer since its launch.
The crypto industry has opposed the move, noting that OFAC does not normally sanction software and that Tornado Cash does not have a central operator. The suit claims that there are legitimate uses for individuals to use privacy-enhancing tools like Tornado Cash, and OFAC’s sanctions against the privacy mixer mean that these individuals now effectively expose their entire transaction history to anyone looking at the network data.
An order effectively requiring Defendants to decriminalize use of the 20 Tornado Cash addresses would allow Plaintiffs to conduct their legitimate activities with some measure of anonymity, use their preferred software tool without fear of penalties, and engage in important expressive associations, the suit said.