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Join the Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group on LinkedInU.S. Charges Two Alleged Founders of Crypto Platform Tornado Cash With Money Laundering – WSJ
U.S. prosecutors charged two individuals allegedly behind decentralized cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, saying they conspired to launder illicit funds and to violate U.S. sanctions. The indictment, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and unsealed Wednesday, charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov in connection with the alleged creation, operation […]
U.S. DOJ Unseals Tornado Cash Indictment, And Coinbase Loses Its Shamelessly Self-Serving Lawsuit Supporting Tornado Cash | John Reed Stark
To me, doing business on digital asset trading platforms, whether trading crypto, NFTs or otherwise, is already mostly thieves robbing thieves amid an unsurveilled, dog-eat-dog counterfeit financial free-for-all, rife with an almost post-apocalyptic Walking Dead-like lawlessness and disorder (except, of course, without the zombies). And crypto-mixers like Tornado Cash only make matters worse. Hence, my […]
Judge Backs U.S. Sanctions on Crypto Platform Tornado Cash – WSJ
Sanctions imposed last year by the U.S. Treasury Department against decentralized cryptocurrency platform Tornado Cash are here to stay, according to a recent ruling by a federal judge. Six individuals filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, last September against the Treasury Department and its leaders, alleging the designations against […]
Removing Sanctions on Crypto Mixer Tornado Cash Won’t Be Easy – WSJ
Cryptocurrency firms including Coinbase Global Inc. and advocacy groups likely face a long journey—and long odds—to win their lawsuits aiming to remove crypto mixer Tornado Cash from the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list, where it landed due to money-laundering allegations. Efforts to be removed from the Treasury’s sanctions list can be costly and time-consuming, and […]
Coinbase-backed suit against Treasury set to become landmark blockchain case
Can the U.S. government sanction computer code? That simple yet complex question is at the heart of a burgeoning legal fight backed by one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The answer will likely have major implications for the government’s power to control the functions of digital assets. *** “The power that’s delegated to OFAC […]
US Treasury Explains How Americans Can Recover Crypto Locked in Tornado Cash
U.S. residents and citizens can apply for a license to recover any funds they have that are locked in Tornado Cash, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), its sanctions watchdog, updated its “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) document Tuesday to provide guidance for the crypto industry on […]
Coinbase bankrolls suit against Treasury Department following Tornado Cash sanctions
Coinbase is footing the bill for a lawsuit filed against the Treasury Department Thursday by users of the recently sanctioned crypto service, Tornado Cash. The six plaintiffs include Coinbase employees and other users of the mixing service that was blacklisted by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August. Mixing services like Tornado […]
Tornado Cash Was the Key Laundering Tool for NFT Scams, Elliptic Says – Bloomberg
Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer that was recently slapped with US sanctions, was the preferred tool for laundering illicit proceeds from nonfungible token scams prior to the ban, according to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises. The mixer “was the source of $137.6 million of cryptoassets processed by NFT marketplaces and the laundering tool of choice […]
Tether, a top crypto company, defies U.S. sanctions on service that hid stolen assets – The Washington Post
One crypto company that has attracted scrutiny from U.S. regulators and law enforcement in the past, Tether, may be in violation of Treasury’s new rules. According to a Washington Post analysis of data from Dune Analytics, a crypto intelligence firm, Tether is not blacklisting accounts associated with Tornado Cash. So far, the U.S. government has […]
US Treasury’s Tornado Cash Sanctions Are ‘Unprecedented’, Warns Congressman
The U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctioning of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer was an unprecedented move threatening privacy and innovation, according to one U.S. member of Congress. And he thinks Congress should start asking questions. On CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” program Thursday, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) lays out his concerns with the Treasury Department’s Office of […]