The US Treasury Division has dropped cryptocurrency mixer Twister Money from its sanctions listing, the company stated on March 21.
The elimination follows a January ruling by a US appeals court docket, which stated the Treasury’s Workplace of International Property Management (OFAC) can not sanction Twister’s sensible contracts as a result of they don’t seem to be the property of any overseas nationwide.
Based on the January court docket ruling, “Twister Money’s immutable sensible contracts (the strains of privacy-enabling software program code) aren’t the ‘property’ of a overseas nationwide or entity, that means […] OFAC overstepped its congressionally outlined authority.”
In a March 21 assertion, the Treasury stated OFAC eliminated a number of dozen Twister-affiliated sensible contract addresses on the Ethereum blockchain community from its sanctions listing.
Twister’s native token, Twister Money (TORN), is up round 60% on the information, in line with knowledge from CoinMarketCap.
As of March 21, TORN has a market capitalization of round $73 million and a completely diluted worth (FDV) of practically $140 million, knowledge reveals.
OFAC is the Treasury’s workplace for administering financial and commerce sanctions on states and overseas 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 troublesome 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 means of varied cyberattacks.
In February, Lazarus was accused of pilfering $1.4 billion from digital asset trade Bybit within the largest-ever crypto exploit.
In complete, Twister Money has purportedly facilitated the laundering of greater than $7 billion in illicit funds because the protocol was launched in 2019, in line with the US Treasury.
In 2024, a Dutch court docket 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 launched on home 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 isn’t a criminal offense,” the EF wrote in an X publish whereas saying the donation on Feb. 26.
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