U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions

The U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions watchdog removed Tornado Cash from its global blacklist Friday.

The crypto mixing tool has been accused of helping North Korea’s Lazarus Group launder stolen funds from its various hacks and thefts, and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctioned it — meaning no U.S. person or anyone doing business with the U.S. could engage with it financially — multiple times. However, a federal appeals court ruled last November that OFAC couldn’t sanction Tornado Cash’s smart contracts because they weren’t the “property” of any foreign national.

“We remain deeply concerned about the significant state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaign aimed at stealing, acquiring, and deploying digital assets for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Kim regime,” a press release from the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Roman Storm, one of the co-founders of Tornado Cash, faces a criminal trial this July over his alleged role developing the smart contracts and protocols. Another developer was charged but has not yet been arrested.

The TORN token jumped 40% in the minutes after Treasury’s statement.