Key Takeaways:
• The U.S. Treasury’s OFAC has officially removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list, following a court ruling that its smart contracts don’t qualify as “property.”
• Despite the delisting, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov remains sanctioned, with OFAC citing his ties to North Korean cybercrime networks.
Paradisers! After nearly three years of being blacklisted, Tornado Cash’s Ethereum addresses have been removed from the U.S. Treasury’s SDN list, a rare reversal by OFAC and a huge development for privacy advocates in crypto.
The move stems from a November 2024 court ruling, where the **U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that Tornado’s smart contracts are immutable, self-executing code—not property—**and therefore fall outside OFAC’s enforcement scope under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In essence, the courts just drew a line between code and criminality—a ruling that could shape future debates around the regulation of decentralized protocols.
But don’t pop the champagne just yet. Roman Semenov, one of Tornado Cash’s founders, remains sanctioned, though OFAC quietly removed the “cyber-enabled” tag from his listing. His name still sits under North Korea-related sanctions due to alleged ties to Lazarus Group operations.
What This Means for Crypto’s Future, and the Privacy War Ahead
This is a symbolic win for DeFi and decentralization advocates, who argue that open-source code should not be treated the same as a company or individual. Still, this victory doesn’t guarantee the freedom to deploy mixing services at will—especially when founders are still being held accountable for how their protocols are used.
Tornado Cash was accused of being a central conduit for laundering billions, including $455 million from the Ronin Bridge hack, allegedly orchestrated by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Even with the smart contracts off the list, the narrative around crypto mixers enabling illicit finance hasn’t gone away.
Meanwhile, the legal battles for Tornado Cash’s founders Roman Semenov and Roman Storm continue. Both were charged in 2023 for money laundering and sanctions violations, and those cases could still shape how far developers’ responsibilities extend in decentralized systems.
MCP’s Take, What This Means for Pro Traders and Privacy Protocols
The delisting may breathe short-term life into privacy-focused projects, but it also highlights the need for secure, compliant, and professionally managed strategies when engaging with such protocols.
The key takeaways for traders:
Will we see a resurgence in Tornado Cash usage now that its addresses are off the blacklist?
Could other DeFi privacy tools follow a similar legal defense, or will regulators strike back harder?
How do you balance the need for privacy with the risks of regulatory exposure in the current market?
At MCP News Private, we don’t just track the headlines—we help traders understand what it means for secure positioning, safe money management, and professional decision-making. Inside ParadiseFamilyVIP, we offer best-in-class crypto signals, smart portfolio strategy, and consistent trading discipline to navigate even the most uncertain legal terrain.
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Privacy may have won this round, but the game is far from over. Are you prepared to trade it wisely?
