US Treasury Updates Tornado Cash Sanctions

US Treasury Delists Tornado Cash, Maintains Sanctions on Founder

• The US Treasury’s OFAC removed Tornado Cash from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.
• Sanctions remain on Tornado Cash founder Roman Semenov, with a North Korea-related designation.
• The removal follows a court ruling that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts are not considered ‘property’ under IEEPA.
• Tornado Cash was previously blacklisted for allegedly enabling the laundering of over $7 billion in crypto assets.
• The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that OFAC exceeded its authority in sanctioning the smart contracts.

OFAC has delisted Tornado Cash following a court decision that its smart contracts do not qualify as property, but sanctions on founder Roman Semenov continue due to his alleged connections to North Korea-related activities.