US drops Tornado Cash sanctions, frontend remains compromised

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—by Protos Staff

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has removed the crypto mixer Tornado Cash from its sanctions list today. 

The US Treasury Department claims it removed the Tornado Cash sanctions after reviewing “novel legal and policy issues” that were raised in response to sanctioning financial activity “occurring within evolving technology and legal environments.”

The Treasury claims to, “remain deeply concerned about the significant state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaign aimed at stealing, acquiring, and deploying digital assets for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Kim regime.”

OFAC ‘overstepped’ on Tornado Cash sanctions, court orders reversal

Read more: Tornado Cash funds ‘at risk’ after hacker injects malicious code

Indeed, the Tornado Cash website was removed from the Specially Designated Nationals List along with various crypto addresses associated with the project. Sanctions remain against Tornado Cash founder Roman Semenov.

Crypto sleuth ZachXBT warned anyone wanting to use Tornado Cash that “the main frontend is still compromised.” Last year, hackers placed malicious code into Tornado Cash user interfaces that allowed for the malicious actor to steal depositor funds. 

US courts recently ruled that the US Treasury went beyond its powers when it imposed the restrictions against Tornado Cash. The US sanctioned the exchange in 2022 and claimed $7 billion was laundered through the mixer.

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