Coin Center to Sue Treasury Department Over Tornado Cash Sanction

Barely a few days after the United States Treasury Department sanctioned Ethereum (ETH) based cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, many oppositions have risen in defense of the firm. 

Coin Center, a non-profit advocacy group is making plans to take legal actions against the U.S government on its sanction against the mixer. The advocacy group tagged the decision of the U.S authorities as ‘unconstitutional’.

After much analysis, Coin Center made an argument that smart contracts cannot be sanctioned as this will set wrong and dangerous standards for coders globally. 

Two members of staff from the think tank issued a statement regarding the effect of the sanction on coders. Jerry Brito, an executive director, and Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research both at Coin Center agreed that “by treating autonomous code as a ‘person’ OFAC exceeds its statutory authority.”

Tornado Cash Slammed by the U.S Treasury Department

A few days ago, the U.S Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash for helping criminal companies to launder their loot through its advanced technology.

As a part of the sanction, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) made a designation adding Tornado Cash to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List. 

Many of the allegations laid against the crypto mixer were that it had failed to conduct know-your-customer (KYC) procedures and enhanced due diligence on these bad actors. All of which the crypto mixer denied saying that all its users must complete the KYC procedures before they are fully registered.

Thereafter, Alexey Pertsev the protocol’s core developer was arrested by the Dutch authorities in connection to the Tornado Cash saga. While he awaits the verdict of the court concerning his involvement, he is scheduled to spend 14 days in custody. Many contrary opinions sprung up against both the sanction and Alexey’s arrest. 

Together with these contrary opinions, Coin Center believes that OFAC has overstepped its legal authority by adding the Tornado smart contract wallet to the SDN List. According to the Coin Center blogpost, the U.S authority has infringed on the constitutional right of both Tornado Cash and Alexey. This, the think tank explained, is detrimental to the innocent American citizen.