A new court ruling has reversed the sanctions imposed by the US government on crypto mixer Tornado Cash (TORN).
According to a recent filing by the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the previous decision to impose sanctions on the digital asset tumbler has been lifted.
“It is ordered and reviewed that the judgment of the District Court be reversed, and the matter is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals District Court for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion of this Court.”
Tornado Cash was first sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) after it was deemed a threat to the country’s security as hackers linked to the North’s government were believed to be Korea had used it to clean up stolen money.
Crypto mixers allow users to obscure the source of their digital assets by mixing them with other coins from different sources and returning each user the dollar amount he or she invested.
In November, the court ruled that OFAC sanctions failed to properly define “property” in their sanctions. He went on to say that if “ownership” meant “being able to be owned,” then Tornado Cash and its smart contracts would not be of quality, making the sanctions illegal.
“Contrary to the ministry’s arguments, immutable smart contracts are not services. So even considering OFAC’s legal definitions, the immutable smart contracts are not property because they are not property, not contracts, and not services.”
News of the historic ruling caused TORN to stage a massive rally, going from a price of $8.08 on January 21 to a peak of $25.28, a gain of 212%. The token has since recovered and is trading at $19.57 at the time of writing.
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Generated image: Midjourney
