US appeals court: the OFAC exceeded its authority in sanctioning Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts, as they aren't property because they cannot be owned
A US appeals court ruled the Treasury's OFAC “overstepped” when it sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash's smart contracts.
Cointelegraph Felix Ng
Related Coverage
- US Court Tosses Crypto Mixer Sanctions Tied to N. Korea Hack Bloomberg · Madlin Mekelburg
- Appeals court tosses sanctions on Tornado cash crypto mixer CyberScoop · Greg Otto
- U.S. court declares sanctions against Tornado Cash crypto mixer unlawful Cryptopolitan · Collins J. Okoth
- In Big Win for Crypto, Courts Deny Tornado Cash Smart Contracts are Illegal, OFAC, US Department of Treasury Lose Crowdfund Insider · JD Alois
- Tornado Cash users score ‘incredible win’ for crypto privacy in US court DL News
- Tornado Cash Sanctions ‘Unlawful,’ Fifth Circuit Delivers Historic Win for Privacy CCN.com · Prashant Jha
- Crypto Industry Cheers as Federal Court Invalidates Tornado Cash Sanctions The Crypto Basic · Olivia Stephanie
- US Court Overturns Tornado Cash Sanctions: A Win for Crypto Privacy Coinpedia Fintech News · Elena R
- Federal court declares Treasury sanctions on Tornado Cash unlawful Crypto Briefing · Vivian Nguyen
- Tornado Cash smart contracts cleared of OFAC sanctions in latest ruling crypto.news · Rony Roy
- TORN Jumps 380%, Privacy Coins Railgun, Zcash Surge After Tornado Cash Ruling Decrypt · Vismaya V
- US Court Lifts Sanctions on Tornado Cash & N. Korea Hackers The Crypto Times · Ronak Kumar
- Tornado Cash token surges to 2-year high after US court rules Treasury sanctions unlawful CryptoSlate · Oluwapelumi Adejumo
- OFAC Overstepped Authority: Tornado Cash Case Redefines Tech-Law Boundaries Wu Blockchain
- Tornado Cash Upturns 500% as US Court Overturns Sanctions Blockhead
- US Appeals Court Strikes Down Tornado Cash Sanctions, Token Value Soars Cryptonews · Shalini Nagarajan
- TORN Surges 400% as Court Rules Against US Treasury Sanctions on Tornado Cash CryptoPotato · Martin Young
- Appeals court reverses sanctions against blockchain privacy app Axios · Brady Dale
- Just In: US Court Rules Tornado Cash Smart Contracts Not Property, Lifts Ban CoinGape · Kelvin Munene Murithi
- Full opinion — United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ … Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Tornado Cash Sanctions Overturned by U.S. Appeals Court; TORN Soars Over 500% CoinDesk · Jesse Hamilton
Discussion
-
@molly.wiki
Molly White
on bluesky
The Fifth Circuit has just opined that the smart contracts that comprise the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency tumbler are “not property because they are not capable of being owned”, and thus cannot be sanctioned by OFAC. [images]
-
@iampaulgrewal
@iampaulgrewal
on x
Privacy wins. Today the Fifth Circuit held that @USTreasury's sanctions against Tornado Cash smart contracts are unlawful. This is a historic win for crypto and all who cares about defending liberty. @coinbase is proud to have helped lead this important challenge. 1/6
-
@billhughesdc
@billhughesdc
on x
BIG NEWS: Federal appeals court says Treasury overstepped its authority when sanctioning immutable smart contracts deployed by the @TornadoCash devs because they are NOT property of a foreign person or entity. “The immutable smart contracts at issue in this appeal are not [image]
-
@haydenzadams
Hayden Adams
on x
holy shit immutable smart contracts just beat the treasury department in court “we hold that Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts (the lines of privacy-enabling software code) are not the “property” of a foreign national or entity, meaning (1) they cannot be blocked under [im…
-
@iampaulgrewal
@iampaulgrewal
on x
No one wants criminals to use crypto protocols, but blocking open source technology entirely because a small portion of users are bad actors is not what Congress authorized. These sanctions stretched Treasury's authority beyond recognition, and the Fifth Circuit agreed. 3/6
-
@mattcorva
Matt Corva
on x
The 5th Cir. Court of Appeals ruling in favor of plaintiffs challenging the prior addition of Tornado Cash smart contracts to sanctions list pursuant to IEEPA is tremendous. Incredible win here. Another blow to the admin state acting without updated and direct congressional [imag…
-
@jchervinsky
Jake Chervinsky
on x
A stunning victory for crypto in the Fifth Circuit 🔥 The court held that immutable smart contract protocols are not “property” subject to sanctions “because they are not capable of being owned” and struck down OFAC's 2022 designation of Tornado Cash. Decentralization wins 🎆
-
@narodism
Amir Taaki
on x
Bullish. We can use code to allow anyone to do anything. We are untouchable. End the FED. End the government. Internet anarchism. No compromises. The cypherpunks are making it happen.
-
@0xcygaar
@0xcygaar
on x
I don't think people understand how big of a ruling this is. The court is saying that immutable smart contracts are not subject to sanctions since they're not owned by anyone. The US legal system is finally acknowledging that decentralized protocols are a new type of
-
@brian_armstrong
Brian Armstrong
on x
Proud of this outcome. The courts ruled in our favor that @USTreasury cannot sanction open source code. @coinbase will keep holding government accountable to protect your freedoms.
-
@dak_flux
Daniel Keller
on x
Major win! I'm so happy to see this; it would seem we have some headwinds in the regulatory space.
-
@iampaulgrewal
@iampaulgrewal
on x
These smart contracts must now be removed from the sanctions list and US persons will once again be allowed to use this privacy-protecting protocol. Put another way, the government's overreach will not stand. 2/6
-
@_weidai
Wei Dai
on x
Today's ruling on Tornado Cash smart contracts being ownerless is big win for crypto. However, their reason on why it is un-ownable is hilariously wrong. 🤦♂️ The (Groth16) trusted setup is not the reason. It's actually setting of ‘operator’ to null that made it un-ownable. [imag…
-
@neerajka
Neeraj K. Agrawal
on x
Our legal theory was just validated in court. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has found that the Tornado Cash smart contract cannot be sanctioned. [image]
-
@ghappour
Ahmed Ghappour
on x
Today the 5th Circuit held “Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts [...] are not the ‘property’ of a foreign national or entity, meaning (1) they cannot be blocked under IEEPA, and (2) OFAC overstepped its congressionally defined authority.” [image]