Circuit

Bitcoin

Tornado Cash

Tornado

WazirX

A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department overstepped its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer used to conceal digital asset ownership, which was linked to North Korea’s hacking groups. 
According to a Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-27/us-court-tosses-sanctions-of-crypto-mixer-tied-to-n-korea-hack" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">report</a>, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans sided with six Tornado Cash users, who argued that the software itself cannot be sanctioned under current U.S. law. 
The Treasury Department had targeted Tornado Cash in 2022, claiming it was used to launder over $7 billion, including $455 million stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group.&nbsp; 
However, the court stated that existing laws only allow sanctions against property owned by foreign nationals or entities—not open-source software like Tornado Cash. 
Circuit Judge Don Willett emphasized the importance of updating outdated laws to address modern technologies like crypto mixers. Until then, Tornado Cash’s privacy-focused smart contracts are not considered “property” that can be blocked. 
Following the news, the price of TORN, Tornado Cash’s token spiked over 1000% from $3.6 to as high as $40 within hours. TORN is currently trading near $19, up 440% in the past 24 hours – according to CoinMarketCap <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/torn/" target="_blank" data-type="link" data-id="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/torn/" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">data</a>. 
<div class="wp-block-image"> 
 <figure class="aligncenter size-full">
 <img decoding="async" width="1025" height="435" src="https://www.cryptotimes.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/U.S.-Court-Rejects-Tornado-Cash-Sanction-Tied-to-North-Korea-Hackers.jpg" alt="U.S. Court Rejects Tornado Cash Sanction Tied to North Korea Hackers" class="wp-image-217865" srcset="https://www.cryptotimes.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/U.S.-Court-Rejects-Tornado-Cash-Sanction-Tied-to-North-Korea-Hackers.jpg 1025w, https://www.cryptotimes.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/U.S.-Court-Rejects-Tornado-Cash-Sanction-Tied-to-North-Korea-Hackers-420x178.jpg 420w, https://www.cryptotimes.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/U.S.-Court-Rejects-Tornado-Cash-Sanction-Tied-to-North-Korea-Hackers-860x365.jpg 860w" sizes="(max-width: 1025px) 100vw, 1025px">
 <figcaption class="wp-element-caption">
 TORN Price Chart | Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/torn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">CoinMarketCap</a>
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
</div> 
Despite the ruling, Tornado Cash remains controversial, with one of its developers, Alexey Pertsev, sentenced in the Netherlands for laundering over $2 billion. 
Coinbase, which supported the legal challenge, praised the decision. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, called it a win for privacy, arguing that sanctioning open-source technology harms innovation and exceeds Treasury’s authority. 
The case will now return to a federal court in Austin for further review, continuing a debate over privacy and regulation in the crypto world. 
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> 
 Also Read: <a href="https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/11/04/wazirx-hacker-is-converting-stolen-funds-into-bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WazirX Hacker Is Converting Stolen Funds Into Bitcoin</a> 
</blockquote>

US Court Lifts Sanctions on Tornado Cash & N. Korea Hackers

The Crypto Times

Other articles published on Nov 27, 2024

Shiba Inu Price Prediction: New Rewards & Token Burns vs Market Crash

IOTA Overhauls Vision with “IOTA Rebased” Transition – What This Means for Developers and Token H...

Google Cloud to Back BNB Chain's MVB Program with $10M in Cloud Service Credits

Cardano Advances with First Zero Knowledge Smart Contract

BlackRock’s Tokenized Fund BUIDL Now Available on Aptos, Arbitrum, and More Blockchains

Green United $18M Crypto Fraud: Court Rejects Appeal, SEC Case to Continue

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!