The United States Department of the Treasury added five cryptocurrency addresses tied to a neo-Nazi group involved in Russia’s war on Ukraine to list of entities sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Asset Control. In a Thursday notice, the U.S. Treasury designated 22 individuals and 2 entities, including many the government department claimed had furthered the Russian government’s objectives in Ukraine, to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, effectively barring U.S. persons and companies from dealing with them. Included in sanctions of one of the entities — a neo-Nazi paramilitary group called Task Force Rusich — were 2 cryptocurrency addresses …

The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has added 10 individuals, 2 entities, and several crypto addresses allegedly tied to an Iranian ransomware group to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, effectively making it illegal for U.S. persons and companies to engage with them. In a Wednesday announcement, the U.S. Treasury said the individuals and companies in the ransomware group were affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the country’s military. The group allegedly “conducted a varied range of malicious cyber-enabled activities,” including compromising the systems of a U.S.-based children’s hospital in June 2021 …

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 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 controversial mixer Tornado Cash. According to the government department, U.S. residents would not be violating sanctions by copying the mixer’s code, nor making it available online or publishing it through another medium. “U.S. persons would not be prohibited by …

Russia could soon be taking a cue from Iran by using cryptocurrencies for imports, according to comments from the Russian prime Minister. The adoption of digital assets is necessary as a “safe alternative” for cross-border payments, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin declared at a strategic session on the development of the domestic financial system on Tuesday. The prime minister added that digital assets provide a good opportunity to ensure uninterrupted payments for imports and exports. Mishustin also pointed out the importance of ensuring tech infrastructure independence and cybersecurity of financial institutions, stating: “We need to intensively develop innovative areas, including …

United States Congressman Tom Emmer sent a four-page letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday regarding the Treasury Department’s sanctioning of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash on Aug. 8. In his letter, Emmer posed a series of questions that seek to clarify the position of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Emmer said that OFAC, acting under Executive Order 13694 to place Tornado Cash on its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN), has for the first time extended the EO’s definition of person or individual to include code. He pointed to the distinction made by …

The Ethereum (ETH) community has been divided over how to best respond to the threat of protocol-level transaction censorship in the wake of the United States government sanctions on Tornado Cash-linked addresses. Over the last week, Ethereum community members have proposed social slashing or even a user-activated soft fork (UASF) as possible responses to transaction-level censorship on Ethereum, with some calling it a “trap” that will do more harm than good and others stating its necessary to provide “credible neutrality and censorship resistance properties” on Ethereum. The heated debate comes after Ethereum miner Ethermine elected not to process transactions from …

The world is still struggling to comprehend the geopolitical and human impact of the Ukraine war. With more than 10 million people fleeing their homes and 6 million seeking refuge in foreign countries, it's been a time to support a sovereign country under attack. It has also proven to be the moment where cryptocurrency proved its true value to real people. Not as the high-concept tech toy for the wealthy elite as many had previously dismissed it, but rather as an empowering force for good in a dangerously unstable world. When the Russian invasion began in February, Twitter accounts belonging …

There are mounting concerns that recent United States government sanctions against Tornado Cash will become a “slippery slope” for Web3 privacy that could eventually make the entire space “meaningless.” Speaking to Cointelegraph, Shumo Chu, co-founder of privacy protocol Manta Network expressed worry that the strict sanctions against Tornado Cash could have a knock-on effect on every Web3 protocol including ones providing privacy. Chu is one of the co-founders of Polkadot-based Manta Network, a layer-1 privacy protocol that enables private transactions in decentralized finance (DeFi). Tornado Cash (TORN) is an Ethereum (ETH) privacy protocol that anonymizes coin transactions. These protocols are …

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform dYdX said it blocked some users’ accounts with funds linked to Tornado Cash, including mistakenly suspending some that never directly engaged with the controversial mixer. In a Wednesday blog post, dYdX said it had “unbanned certain accounts” that the derivatives platform had blocked in response to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury Department adding Tornado Cash to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, or SDNs. According to dYdX, its compliance provider flagged many accounts believed to be linked to Tornado Cash which the platform subsequently blocked — despite the fact some …

Tornado Cash (TORN) has lost almost half its market valuation two days after being slapped with sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department. The department accused Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer platform, of laundering more than $7 billion in cryptocurrencies, including a stash of $455 million allegedly stolen by North Korea-based hackers. Immediate reactions were followed by U.S.-based crypto companies, including Circle and Coinbase. In a controversial move, the popular crypto firms blocked the movements of their jointly-issued stablecoin USDC tied to Tornado Cash's blacklisted smart contracts. TORN price drops 45% The news prompted traders to limit their exposure to TORN, …

Roman Semenov, one of the co-founders of Tornado Cash, has reported his account suspended at developer platform GitHub following the United States Treasury Department's to sanction the privacy protocol. In a Monday tweet, Semenov said that despite not being individually named as a Specially Designated National, or SDN, of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, he seemed to be facing repercussions from the government department alleging Tornado Cash laundered more than $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency. As SDNs, identified firms and individuals have their assets blocked and “U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them." My @GitHub account was …

Russia continues sending mixed messages about the legal status of cryptocurrency, with a parliament official urging the launch of crypto trading on the country’s largest stock exchange. The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is the best match for hosting a regulated crypto exchange in Russia, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian Banking Association and a financial committee within the State Duma. At a recent press conference, Aksakov stressed the importance of building a crypto exchange under the strict requirements of the Russian central bank, local news agency Prime reported on Thursday. The lawmaker pointed out that MOEX is likely to …