US Department Of Treasury Faces A Lawsuit By Crypto Investors Over Tornado Cash Sanctions

The latest reports suggest that a new lawsuit has been filed against the US Department of Treasury in the US District Court. The lawsuit has been filed by six users from the cryptocurrency industry involving Tornado Cash and Ethereum blockchain.

Six Users Filed the Lawsuit

On Thursday, a new lawsuit was filed by six plaintiffs who are users of Tornado Cash and the Ethereum blockchain. Tornado Cash is a cryptocurrency mixer that was targeted by the US Department of Treasury.

The regulator reportedly issued sanctions against the cryptocurrency mixer. The sanctions were filed by the regulator in light of the 44 addresses where it did not process transactions in accordance with the law.

The regulatory authority revealed that the recent (44) transactions were sent to the Office of Foreign Asset Control’s Specially Designated Nationals.

Sanctions Imposed on August 8

It was on August 8 when entities and persons were prohibited by the US Treasury Department from engaging with businesses, blockchains, or smart contract addresses on Tornado Cash.

Therefore, the regulatory authority issued sanctions against Tornado Cash so anyone breaking the law would be brought to justice or trialed by the US court.

The regulator had announced that the people/entities interacting with the sanctioned platform would include civil or criminal penalties.

Arguments Presented by the Plaintiffs

The latest updates suggest that the six plaintiffs have added 3 arguments in the lawsuit filed at the US court.

The first argument they have presented is about the definition of Tornado Cash. They argued that the particular platform does not meet the requirements of being property.

The platform does not even meet the requirements of being a person, a national asset, or a foreign country. Therefore, the SDN list must not have Tornado Cash added to it.

The second argument they presented was that their First Amendment rights of the US Constitution were being violated, which give them the freedom of speech.

The third argument they presented was not being able to access their Ether stored in Tornado Cash pools. This was mainly because of the Treasury designation that was imposed by the US Treasury Department over Tornado Cash.

The plaintiffs claimed that such actions by the US Treasury Department showed that the regulator lacked the process of pre-deprivation. This resulted in the US Treasury Department violating the legal procedures.

Support from Coinbase

Right after the news broke about the users going after the US Treasury Department, Coinbase reportedly supported the plaintiffs. The exchange has announced that it is supporting the lawsuit and it also pledged to support it with funding.

With the users and now, Coinbase backing up the lawsuit, there is a possibility that Tornado Cash may be brought back to life.

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