The US Treasury Division has dropped cryptocurrency mixer Twister Money from its sanctions checklist, the company mentioned on March 21.
The removing follows a January ruling by a US appeals court, which mentioned the Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC) can’t sanction Twister’s good contracts as a result of they don’t seem to be the property of any international nationwide.
Based on the January courtroom ruling, “Twister Money’s immutable good contracts (the strains of privacy-enabling software program code) should not the ‘property’ of a international nationwide or entity, which means […] OFAC overstepped its congressionally outlined authority.”
In a March 21 statement, the Treasury mentioned OFAC eliminated a number of dozen Twister-affiliated good contract addresses on the Ethereum blockchain community from its sanctions checklist.
Twister’s native token, Twister Money (TORN), is up round 60% on the information, in accordance with data from CoinMarketCap.
As of March 21, TORN has a market capitalization of round $73 million and a totally diluted worth (FDV) of almost $140 million, the information exhibits.
OFAC is the Treasury’s workplace for administering financial and commerce sanctions on states and international nationals.
Twister Money lets customers pool crypto deposits right into a mixer after which withdraw it later to completely different pockets addresses, making the unique funding supply tough to trace.
TORN is up round 60% on the information. Supply: CoinMarketCap
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Cash laundering allegations
In August 2022, OFAC sanctioned Twister Money after alleging the blockchain protocol helped launder cryptocurrency stolen by Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking outfit.
Lazarus Group has allegedly stolen billions of {dollars} in crypto by way of numerous cyberattacks.
In February, Lazarus was accused of pilfering $1.4 billion from digital asset exchange Bybit within the largest-ever crypto exploit.
In complete, Twister Money has purportedly facilitated the laundering of greater than $7 billion in illicit funds for the reason that protocol was launched in 2019, in accordance with the US Treasury.
In 2024, a Dutch courtroom discovered Alexey Pertsev, one in all Twister Money’s builders, responsible of cash laundering and sentenced him to 64 months in jail.
In February, Pertsev was released on house arrest, whereas he ready an attraction of his conviction.
The Ethereum Basis has pledged to donate $1.25 million for Pertsev’s protection.
“Privateness is regular, and writing code shouldn’t be a criminal offense,” the EF wrote in an X publish whereas saying the donation on Feb. 26.
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