Removing Sanctions on Crypto Mixer Tornado Cash Won’t Be Easy

Winston & Strawn Partner Cari Stinebower recently spoke with The Wall Street Journal regarding the feasibility of removing crypto mixer Tornado Cash from the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tornado Cash, a currency mixer that “lets users commingle their funds to obfuscate ownership, was sanctioned in August by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces U.S. sanctions. OFAC accused Tornado Cash of allowing users to launder billions of dollars in virtual currency, including $455 million allegedly stolen by North Korean hackers. The sanctions froze U.S. assets held by Tornado Cash and barred U.S. companies and individuals from doing business with it.”

In the article, Cari provided her insights, stating that there are “two ways for an individual or entity to come off a sanctions list, and that one is to show that OFAC has made a mistake and that the other way, which is more common, is to show that the reasons for sanctions no longer apply.” Cari also shared with the WSJ that “when individuals sue OFAC, they typically do so because they are frustrated and have tried other avenues, such as attempting to obtain a license from OFAC that allows certain activities that would otherwise be prohibited.” However, Cari also said that these suits usually fail.

Read the full article here.