The US Treasury Department said “interacting” with the open source cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, with certain provisions, would not be in violation of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. in English)
In a guide posted to its FAQ pages on Tuesday, andThe Treasury Department clarified some concerns previously expressed by many US-based cryptocurrency users regarding the controversial Tornado Cash mixer.. According to the government department, US residents would not be violating the sanctions by copying the mixer’s code, nor by making it available online or publishing it through any other means.
“U.S. persons would not be prohibited under United States sanctions regulations from visiting the Internet archives of the historical Tornado Cash website, nor would they be prohibited from visiting the Tornado Cash website if it becomes active again.” In Internet”said the Treasury Department.
The Treasury specified that, in general, users could interact with the Tornado Cash code as long as it was not a prohibited transaction. Those who initiated transactions using the mixer before the sanctions were imposed on August 8 can apply for an OFAC license to complete the transaction or make a withdrawal:
“OFAC would have a favorable licensing policy toward those requests, as long as the transaction did not involve other sanctionable conduct.”
The apparent uncertainty surrounding the US sanctions and how companies were expected to comply with them came amid many platforms removing or restricting the activity of individuals associated with Tornado Cash.. One of the mixer’s co-founders, Roman Semenov, reported on August 8 that his account on the developer platform GitHub had been suspended. At the time he suggested that his interactions with Tornado Cash’s code might have been part of the reason, questioning “is writing open source code illegal now?”
Here’s the list of Tornado Cash resources that were banned
-Tornado Cash @GitHub organization
– staff @GitHub accounts of TC contributors
– there $USDC on Tornado Cash contracts @circlepay
– @infura_io CPR
– @AlchemyPlatform CPR
– https://t.co/SHvgEjTOMV domain @eth_limo—️Tornado.cash️ (@TornadoCash) August 9, 2022
This is the list of Tornado Cash resources that were banned
– organization of Tornado Cash @GitHub
– the personal @GitHub accounts of TC contributors
– all $USDC from Tornado Cash contracts @circlepay
– @infura_io RPC
– @AlchemyPlatform RPC
– domain https://t.co/SHvgEjTOMV @eth_limo
Others have tried to use the US legal system to deal with Treasury actions. On September 8, Coinbase announced that it would support a lawsuit filed by Tornado Cash users against the Treasury Department, alleging that it illegally sanctioned the cryptocurrency mixer’s smart contract addresses.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the full amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not aimed at or accessible to investors in Spain.