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Advertisement &nbsp &nbsp In a notable development for the crypto sector, a U.S. appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), overstepped its authority when it imposed sanctions on the notorious cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. Notably, Tornado Cash, a decentralized cryptocurrency mixer designed to enhance privacy, was sanctioned by OFAC in August 2022 under allegations of facilitating money laundering, including connections to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. However, the appeals court argued on Tuesday that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts do not qualify as property or services tied to any individual or organization, thus they cannot be blocked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In the latest ruling, the court emphasized that while OFAC’s definition of “property” is broad, it does not encompass the decentralized, immutable nature of Tornado Cash’s smart contracts. “Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts (the strings of code that provide privacy) are not the ‘property’ of any foreign individual or organization, meaning they cannot be blocked underIEEPAand that OFAC exceeded its authority as defined by Congress,” the panel of judges noted. The ruling has triggered a dramatic 24-hour 436% surge in the price of Tornado Cash’s native token, TORN, which was trading at just over $18 at press time. That said, this ruling, which overturned a prior district court decision, could have significant ramifications not only for the cryptocurrency space but also for the ongoing SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit. Advertisement &nbsp Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, weighed in on the ruling, drawing parallels to the ongoing SEC lawsuit against Ripple.  “This week’s federal court rulings striking down the SEC’s dealer rule and Treasury’s sanctions on Tornado Cash share a theme: Regulators don’t make law; they enforce it as written. If they want more power,…

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Filed under: News - @ November 27, 2024 9:22 pm