US Congressman Demands Explanations from the Government on Sanctions Imposed on Cryptocurrency Mixer Tornado Cash

Congressman Tom Emmer of the Sixth District of Minnesota has sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary demanding an explanation for the «unprecedented sanctions» against cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.

On August 8, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the cryptocurrency mixer for laundering $ 7 billion in illegal funds. The agency also claimed that the platform allegedly used the services of the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group for cryptocurrency fraud.

In the letter, Emmer notes that the sanctions are unique because they were imposed on a piece of software rather than an individual, which goes beyond similar previous precedents.

The congressman also asked the Treasury to explain which blockchain technologies are subject to sanctions and what measures will be taken in the near future to identify criminal schemes.

«It would be helpful for Congress and blockchain developers to understand the factors that OFAC considers when it wants to add a technology to the SDN list (Specially Designated National List — a list targeting terrorists, officials, beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, and international criminals designated by the U.S. government),» the letter reads.

Last Saturday, August 20, a rally in support of the developer of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash was held on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The arrest of Alexey Pertsev caused a strong resonance in the cryptocurrency community, and the organizers of the rally said that the authorities' actions set a dangerous precedent for the cryptocurrency community.