Unchained

Tornado Cash Sanctioned. Did the Government Overstep Its Bounds? - Ep. 384

Aug 12, 2022

Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, dives into the controversial sanctions against Tornado Cash. He discusses how the government's actions may have misclassified the decentralized service, impacting many legitimate users. Brito raises concerns about the constitutional validity of the sanctions and argues for clearer regulatory frameworks. He also explores the complexities of unfreezing assets affected by these sanctions, and the broader implications for financial privacy and the future of cryptocurrency regulation.

38:39

Creator website

Episode guests

Jerry Brito

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

5min

Sanctioning Tornado Cash: Implications and Controversies

7min

Examining Government Actions and Legal Implications of Tornado Cash Sanctions

3min

Navigating Sanctions on Tornado Cash

9min

Cryptocurrency Market Turbulence

11min

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