Last Updated on September 11, 2022 by Bitfinsider
Six Tornado Cash users have sued the Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, other government officials, and the Treasury Department over their decision to approve the cryptocurrency mixing tool back in August. Employees of Coinbase and other Ethereum users like Preston Van Loon are among the claimants. Preston claims that the sanction prevents him from accessing thousands of dollars’ worth of Ethereum money that were deposited with Tornado Cash.
According to the lawsuit, the government lacks the jurisdiction to impose sanctions against Tornado Cash because the motion infringes on the constitutional rights to free expression and property of all Americans. Constitution.
The right of law-abiding Americans to conduct financial transactions freely and confidentially is threatened, according to the 20-page complaint submitted to the Texas federal court.
In a statement addressing the situation, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the lawsuit has asked the court to remove Tornado Cash from the U.S. sanctions list.
Armstrong said: “In this case, Treasury went much further and took the unprecedented step of sanctioning an entire technology instead of specific individuals…there are legitimate applications for this type of technology and as a result of these sanctions, many innocent users now have their funds trapped and have lost access to a critical privacy tool.”
Open Source Technology’s Future Is In Jeopardy
Sanctions were put in place against Tornado Cash by the U.S. Treasury Department because it is a well-liked mixing tool that can hide cryptocurrency transactions. According to the official announcement, the gadget has been particularly utilized to siphon off millions of dollars’ worth of money by money launderers and other bad actors (including the North Korean hacker outfit Lazarus).
The industry is anxiously awaiting the conclusion because it may determine how open-source software or decentralized computing will develop in the future and how much control the government will have over them. Decentralization is the foundation of bitcoin and blockchain technology, therefore the decision might have a significant impact on the sector for years to come.
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