US court overturns Treasury sanctions on Tornado Cash
The US District Court for the Western District of Texas has overturned sanctions imposed by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on the crypto-mixing protocol Tornado Cash. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the removal of Tornado Cash-linked addresses from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. The court ruled that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts are not legally considered property, as they are immutable and operate independently of any entity. The ruling suggests that current laws, such as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, need updates to address innovations like crypto-mixing. The decision was celebrated by privacy advocates and the crypto community, with Tornado Cash's TORN token surging nearly 200%. Other privacy-focused cryptocurrencies also saw price increases.
