Court Ends Tornado Cash Sanctions Case as Co-Founder’s Trial Looms

The legal battle between crypto advocacy group Coin Center and the U.S. Treasury Department over sanctions against privacy tool Tornado Cash has reached its conclusion. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case, marking a quiet end to a contentious dispute over regulatory authority in the crypto space.

Coin Center's challenge argued the Treasury overstepped by sanctioning an open-source protocol rather than a specific entity—a precedent with far-reaching implications for decentralized finance. The dismissal follows a Texas court's earlier order to lift the sanctions, which the government declined to appeal.

While the sanctions originated from Tornado Cash's alleged role in laundering funds for North Korea's Lazarus Group, the case's resolution leaves unanswered questions about OFAC's authority over neutral technology. The outcome may influence how regulators approach similar tools in the future.