The Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund have become the latest industry advocates to come forward in support of Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury over its “illegal” sanctions against Tornado Cash..
On June 2, the two cryptocurrency industry advocacy groups filed a written amicus curiae set in support of Coin Centerarguing that US sanctions against the cryptocurrency mixer should be withdrawn.
1/ Today, my colleagues and I at @BlockchainAssn and our partners at @fund_defi filed an amicus brief in support of @coincenter‘s lawsuit against OFAC fighting against sanctions of the Tornado Cash software protocol.
— Marisa Tashman Coppel (@MTCoppel) June 2, 2023
1/ Today, my colleagues and I at @BlockchainAssn and our partners at @fund_defi filed an amicus brief in support of @coincenter’s lawsuit against OFAC to fight Tornado Cash software protocol sanctions.
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They described the sanctions imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as “both unprecedented and illegal.”and added:
“OFAC sanctions are illegal. OFAC lacks the legal authority to sanction software like Tornado Cash, and yet its decision lacks any factual basis that would make the sanctions legal.”
The associations argued that Tornado Cash is software, and while OFAC has the legal authority to sanction people or property, it cannot sanction a decentralized protocol..
“The core of the Tornado Cash software is not and cannot be owned by anyone,” they argued.claiming that OFAC “conjured” a “person” so it had a basis to sanction the crypto mixer.
5/ By sanctioning the Tornado Cash software protocol, OFAC infringes on the right to free speech and due process.
Americans who wish to engage in anonymous speech or association can no longer do so.
Nor did they have notice when they were blocked from accessing their assets.
— Marisa Tashman Coppel (@MTCoppel) June 2, 2023
5/ By sanctioning the Tornado Cash software protocol, OFAC infringes the right to freedom of expression and due process. Americans who wish to participate in anonymous expression or association can no longer do so. They were also not notified when access to their assets was blocked.
The letter admitted that there was a malicious use of the protocol for money laundering, especially by hackers affiliated with North Koreabut also pointed out other less harmful usesspecifically to improve privacy on the publicly accessible Ethereum blockchain.
The groups argued that sanctions should be declared illegal and the courts should legally prohibit their application.
In April, the two groups also filed an amicus brief in support of a nearly identical claim. brought by six people against the Treasury Department for its sanctions against Tornado Cash.
The lawsuit, filed in September, is backed by crypto exchange Coinbase.who also wants the mixer ban to end.
The Treasury, however, alleged that these types of cryptocurrency mixers are a threat to national security.and that Tornado Cash repeatedly failed to create controls to stop money laundering.
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