The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has lifted economic sanctions on Tornado Cash.
More than 100 Ethereum addresses have been removed from the sanctions list. According to the department’s statement, the decision followed a “review of new legal and policy issues” related to crypto businesses.
The project was sanctioned by OFAC in August 2022 due to its role in money laundering. U.S. authorities reported that since the service’s inception, over $7 billion had been laundered through it. Tornado Cash was notably used by hackers from the North Korean Lazarus Group.
On August 12, 2022, one of the mixer’s creators, developer Alexey Pertsev, was arrested on suspicion of involvement in money laundering and concealing illicit financial flows.
All company assets, user funds, and Tornado Cash’s source code in the U.S. and abroad were blocked, and residents and citizens of the country were prohibited from using the service.
On January 21, 2025, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the sanctions due to “overreach” by OFAC and returned the case to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas for further proceedings.
Soon after, Pertsev announced he would be released on February 7.
The U.S. Department of Justice also expressed “deep concern” over North Korea’s activities in hacking, stealing, and laundering funds for the ruling regime.
“Digital assets offer tremendous opportunities for innovation and value creation for the American people. Protecting the digital asset industry from abuse by North Korea and other illicit actors is crucial for establishing U.S. leadership,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
According to Chainalysis, in 2024, entities on the OFAC sanctions list received $15.8 billion through cryptocurrency transactions.