North Korea and Nuclear Weapons Detail in US Treasury Department’s New Cryptocurrency Sanctions!

Cryptocurrency Despite the reaction of the industry, the US Treasury Department does not back down in the slightest regarding the sanctions it has imposed on Tornado Cash.

US Accuses OFAC Tornado Cash of Aiding North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a sanction decision for an Ethereum-based crypto mixing service. In addition to the first August sanctions under an executive order on cybercrime, OFAC now defines Tornado Cash as part of an order on North Korea’s nuclear proliferation.

The following statements were used in the statements made:

“This action is part of the United States’ efforts to limit North Korea’s ability to advance its illegal weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.”

The announcement stated that the redefinition “includes an additional basis for the identification of Tornado Cash in relation to its support of North Korean activities.”

The announcement strongly reinforces OFAC’s assessment of Tornado Cash as a threat to national security.

However, defenses are made on behalf of Tornado Cash in numerous lawsuits in the USA.

These lawsuits argue that Tornado Cash, a decentralized smart contract, cannot be an “entity” as stated in the terms of OFAC’s enforcement mandate.

The nonprofit Coin Center argued in their lawsuit that OFAC “overstepped its legal mandate because Tornado Cash was used to perform functions that did not involve “any property in which any foreign country or citizen has any interest”.

A new FAQ by OFAC addresses this argument directly. “OFAC has identified the entity known as Tornado Cash, which is a ‘partnership, association, joint venture, company, group, subgroup or other entity’ that may be designated under IEEPA,” the office wrote in its final guide.

*Not investment advice.