A recent ruling from a federal court favored the Treasury Department, affirming its authority to apply sanctions to the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman issued a summary judgment that backed the position of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), endorsing their right to reference Tornado Cash within the framework of sanctions regulations.
The petition filed by the six Tornado Cash users, Joseph Van Loon, Tyler Almeida, Alexander Fisher, Preston Van Loon, Kevin Vitale, and Nate Welch, looks for a summary judgment.
Supporters of Tornado Cash argued that the government’s actions violated their First Amendment rights, considering that they employed the mixer to contribute to significant political and social causes.
As accusers, they requested the court to make a decision based on the evidence and legal arguments presented, rather than going through a full trial.
However, the judge held a different perspective, concluding that the plaintiffs did not provide enough evidence to demonstrate any implications related to the First Amendment.
The six accusers, who used Tornado said, “The parties disagree on how to characterize Tornado Cash. Plaintiffs contend that Tornado Cash is a decentralized, open-source software project comprised of a subset of smart contracts, or “pools,” on the Ethereum blockchain. “
The chief officer of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, which backs the lawsuit, said they “continue to believe Plaintiffs’ challenge to OFAC’s Tornado Cash action is right.”
Judge Robert Pitman found out that “Tornado Cash is an association within the ordinary meaning of the term and is therefore an entity that may be designated per OFAC regulations.”
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