Blockchain Association Shows Support for Banned Tornado Cash in New Amicus Brief Filing

A nonprofit organization dedicated to crypto advocacy is filing an amicus brief in support of the banned crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

In a new announcement, the Blockchain Association says that it has filed an amicus brief in the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) lawsuit against Tornado Cash, saying that the token mixer is “simply a tool.”

According to the group, it doesn’t make sense to ban Tornado Cash outright and authorities should instead focus on prosecuting individuals who use it in an illegal manner, just like any other tool.

“Today, Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief in support of Tornado Cash in OFAC’s case against the autonomous, decentralized software program.

The issue at hand is simple: Tornado Cash is simply a tool, and OFAC’s attempt to sanction a self-executing, privacy-protecting piece of software is a grave overreach that will have sweeping downstream consequences for Americans’ privacy.

As with other tools, we prosecute the individuals who use those tools for illicit activity, rather than sanctioning or banning the tools themselves. The same approach should hold true for OFAC’s approach to Tornado Cash.”

The group says that if OFAC is successful in its case against the crypto mixer, it could greatly empower the regulatory agency as well as have far-reaching implications for the US crypto industry and the constitutional rights of citizens.

“If OFAC succeeds in their action against these lines of code, there will be serious impacts on the US digital assets industry, jeopardizing law-abiding Americans’ financial privacy, threatening their constitutional rights, and greatly expanding OFAC’s power.”

Earlier this month, Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, said he’s optimistic that the ban on Tornado Cash will be overturned due to the “powerful” legal arguments being made by the plaintiffs.

Tornado Cash, which pools together funds from differing sources, mixes them up and then redistributes them to increase anonymity, was originally sanctioned by OFAC in August 2022 because it was deemed to be a threat to national security.

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