Treasury Sanctions Open-Source Software

The internet hosting and software development subsidiary of Microsoft, Github, has partially unbanned the Tornado Cash repositories following the recent sanctions enforced by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). Github’s decision follows the U.S. Treasury updating the public, noting that U.S. persons can copy, view, and discuss the open-source code. Github’s partial reinstatement lets repository visitors look at the Tornado Cash codebase in read-only mode. Github Reinstates Tornado Cash Repositories in Read-Only Mode The....

The U.S. Department of the Treasury says that the growing use of crypto assets challenges the efficacy of American sanctions. “We are mindful of the risk that, if left unchecked, these digital assets and payments systems could harm the efficacy of our sanctions,” the Treasury Department explained. Treasury Says Crypto Threatens Efficacy of U.S. Sanctions The U.S. Department of the Treasury released its 2021 Sanctions Review Monday. “Technological innovations such as digital currencies, alternative payment platforms, and new ways of hiding cross-border transactions all....

Residents would not be violating sanctions by visiting Tornado Cash's website, copying the mixer’s open-source code, nor making the code available online or in print. The United States Department of the Treasury said “interacting” with cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash’s open-source code, with certain provisions, would not be in violation of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC.In the guidance posted to its frequently asked questions pages on Tuesday, the Treasury Department clarified some concerns previously voiced by many U.S.-based crypto users regarding....

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued its first-ever sanctions on a crypto mixer. The mixing service was used by Lazarus Group to process illicit proceeds from the $620 million crypto heist of the online game Axie Infinity, said the Treasury Department. Treasury Department Sanctions Crypto Mixer The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Friday that it has sanctioned crypto mixer Blender.io (Blender). According to the OFAC, this mixing service is used by the Democratic....

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the Treasury Department is monitoring Russian efforts to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency. Four U.S. senators have written to Yellen raising concerns about Russia using cryptocurrency as a channel to circumvent sanctions. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monitoring Russian Efforts to Use Cryptocurrency to Evade Sanctions U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about the Treasury Department monitoring Russian efforts to evade sanctions using crypto at an event hosted by the University of Illinois Wednesday, the Wall Street....