US court rules against Tornado Cash, lifting sanctions…TORN cryptocurrency surges 140%

US District Court for the Western District of Texas
The U.S. District Court of Texas has ordered the vacating of a previous court ruling that upheld sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
According to The Block on the 22nd (local time), the court stated in its ruling that it "sets aside the district court's ruling and transfers the case to the district court for additional proceedings."
On this news, Tornado Cash's native cryptocurrency, TORN, soared by over 140%, from $9.5 to over $23, and is currently trading at
In August 2022, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that North Korea had stolen cryptocurrency and used it to launder it.
The company also targeted the mixer for sanctions for using Tornado Cash to buy cryptocurrency.
Pertsev was sentenced to more than five years in prison for money laundering. Following this sanction, Tornado Cash user Joseph
Van Loon and the five other plaintiffs are suing the Department of the Treasury, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, OFAC and OFAC Director Andrea
It filed a lawsuit against Gacki, arguing that the sanctions exceeded its authority.
The central issue is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows foreign countries or nations to impose restrictions on their interests.
The IEEPA law allows the president to block property owned by the US government. US authorities have used IEEPA to justify sanctions against Tornado Cash, but the definition of the term property is at issue.
The term includes anything that may be subject to proprietary rights. Plaintiffs argue that TornadoCash is software, not a person or entity, and therefore is not subject to sanctions.
In November 2023, the appellate court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that Tornado Cash's smart contracts are immutable and therefore cannot be used as defined by the IEPA.
The court ruled that it does not fall within the category of property, stating in its ruling that "immutable smart contracts exist only as a single party."
Tornado Cash also cannot be considered a service as claimed by the Treasury Department because it does not require human intervention to run.
"While IEEPA gives the President broad authority to regulate a variety of economic transactions, its language is not unlimited," the court said. "It is not possible to close loopholes in the law or to impose other restrictions."
It is not our role to alleviate the confusion that results from this."