Tornado Cash Drama: Will Sanctions Return? 🌪️💰

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Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to sanction and then conceive to relieve! The US Treasury, in a twist of fate, hath lifted its sanctions from Tornado Cash, that most enigmatic of cryptocurrency mixers, accused of abetting North Korean laundering escapades. 🕵️‍♂️💸

Yet, lo! Coinbase’s own Chief Legal Officer, the estimable Paul Grewal, doth caution: this reprieve may be but a temporary respite. Forsooth, the Treasury hath not closed the door, but rather left it ajar for future impositions. 🚪🔙

Paul Grewal: Beware, Sanctions May Yet Return!

The delisting of Tornado Cash cometh after a veritable tempest of legal wrangling and outcry from the crypto community. The Treasury’s initial sanctions did accuse the service of aiding and abetting nefarious transactions, particularly those linked to North Korea’s hacking brigands. 🌩️👿

But hark! Legal challenges did arise, subjecting the Treasury to the glare of scrutiny, and thus prompted the lifting of restrictions. Grewal, however, doth argue that the Treasury’s actions are less a mea culpa and more a cunning sidestep of the court’s authority. 🎭👀

He believes, nay, he asserts that the reversal doth not preclude the government from clamping down once more, whenever the mood strikes them. 🔄👿

“Power, dear friends, doth not recede willingly. It gasps and gasps until it no longer can,” quoth Grewal. 😮‍💨

Grewal maintains that the Treasury’s withdrawal doth not legally nullify existing claims. He cites the doctrine of voluntary cessation—where a defendant’s decision to cease a challenged practice does not necessarily moot a case, unless it be proven the practice shall not be resurrected. 📜🚫

He recalls legal precedents, such as Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc., where the Supreme Court ruled that a voluntary withdrawal doth not eliminate the specter of future enforcement. 👩‍⚖️🔮

And lo, FBI v. Fikre, where the court held that the FBI’s removal of a plaintiff from the No Fly List did not moot the case, for there was no assurance the plaintiff would not be relisted. 🛫❌

These legal precedents do illustrate why the Treasury’s move to lift Tornado Cash sanctions doth not guarantee enduring protection. 🛡️❓

“Here, the Treasury hath removed the Tornado Cash entities from the SDN, yet hath provided no assurance that it shall not re-list Tornado Cash once more,” Grewal argued. 🔄❗

Grewal Calls for a Decisive Court Ruling

Therefore, Grewal doth urge the district court to take decisive action to prevent potential Treasury overreach. He insists that the court must grant the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment, formally invalidating the Treasury’s designation of Tornado Cash as a sanctioned entity. ⚖️✅

“The US Treasury’s response to the unequivocal mandate of the Fifth Circuit on Tornado Cash hath been chaos incarnate. It is high time for the district court to do what was ordered moons ago. Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on Count1 must be granted, and TC’s designation must be held unlawful and set aside,” Grewal proclaimed. 📜🚫

The removal of sanctions is indeed a positive step for Tornado Cash users and the broader crypto community. Yet, the specter of renewed regulatory action doth loom large. The legal battle may not be over, and the outcome could set a significant precedent for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and privacy-focused technologies. 🚀🔐

Grewal and other industry advocates continue to push for a clear judicial ruling, aiming to prevent the Treasury from arbitrarily sanctioning Tornado Cash anew. Until such a ruling is secured, Tornado Cash remains in uncertain legal limbo. ⏳🤔

“Aye, we see this oft with the2a [Second Amendment litigation], they either drop the case or attempt to settle it, so as not to establish a precedent they’d rather avoid,” quoth Badbrothers, a popular account on X. 🎯🔫

Badbrothers on X doth suggest a pattern wherein government agencies strategically avoid judicial rulings that could curtail their authority. 🕵️‍♂️🚫

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2025-03-25 11:08