Navigating Sanctions on Tornado Cash

This chapter explores the complexities of unfreezing funds affected by sanctions related to Tornado Cash, outlining the necessary steps for individuals to regain access to their USDC and ETH. It delves into legal considerations, appeal avenues, and the implications of holding a dot ETH address under OFAC regulations while raising concerns about privacy in blockchain technology. Additionally, the chapter addresses governmental motivations behind the sanctions and their potential impact on decentralized finance and privacy coins.

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Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, talks about Tornado Cash, why it was sanctioned, and what this means for privacy in crypto.

Show highlights:

what Blender.io is and how it relates to Tornado Cash
how hackers have used Tornado Cash to launder money
whether the Office of Foreign Assets Control made a mistake, according to Jerry
how Americans were affected by the sanctions
why Jerry believes OFAC should have done an analysis to estimate how many people would be impacted by its decision
whether the sanctions should have been aimed at North Koren wallets and not the protocol
whether the sanctions are unconstitutional and whether Coin Center will litigate this
how Jerry believes Circle freezing USDC complicated everything
what the famous people who received 0.1 ETH from random accounts via Tornado Cash should do
what would happen if someone forked the Tornado Cash code and deployed a copycat smart contract to a new address
whether the sanctions signal the beginning of a privacy war on crypto
how regulators are applying the same traditional rules with crypto as they use with centralized entities