Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, saw a 420% increase in its TORN token in 24 hours after the U.S. court found that the Treasury Department had exceeded its powers when sanctioning the mixer. Tornado Cash, which allows users to send cryptocurrencies anonymously, became subject to sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August 2022, causing the token’s price to plummet.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Tornado Cash was not subject to sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department, reversing a lower court ruling. The court concluded that immutable smart contracts used by Tornado Cash, which cannot be owned or controlled by any single entity, do not qualify as property, and thus, sanctioning them is unjustified.
The ruling sparked discussion on the effectiveness of sanctions in controlling decentralized technologies and raised questions about whether Congress will update the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to target modern technologies like crypto-mixing software. The plaintiffs in the case against the Treasury, Secretary Janet Yellen, OFAC, and OFAC Director Andrea Gacki played a significant role in supporting the case, and some experts believe that the ruling will stand if reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Source
<p>The post Tornado Cash TORN Token Skyrockets After Court Rules Against US Treasury Sanctions first appeared on CoinBuzzFeed.</p>