After more than 2 years of sanctions, Tornado Cash was unexpectedly removed from the OFAC blacklist by the U.S. Treasury, causing the TORN token price to "spike" nearly 100% immediately after the announcement.



Tornado Cash has been "released" after more than 2 years of sanctions


On the evening of March 21, the U.S. Treasury officially announced the removal of Tornado Cash from the sanctions list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).


This decision is the result of a previous ruling from a U.S. court, which lifted the sanctions against Tornado Cash on the grounds that:



  • The smart contracts of Tornado Cash are not owned by any foreign individuals or organizations.


  • Therefore, this platform cannot be subjected to sanctions under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA).



This is a major turnaround, completely reversing the U.S. decision in 2022 when the country banned Tornado Cash over allegations of facilitating money laundering.



Why was Tornado Cash previously sanctioned by the U.S.?


Previously, Tornado Cash was accused of being a tool that helped criminal organizations launder money, particularly:



  • The Lazarus Group of North Korea, responsible for numerous crypto attacks worth billions of USD.


  • The recent Bybit hack, which caused losses of $1.4 billion, is also suspected to be related to this platform.



Therefore, in 2022, the U.S. placed Tornado Cash on the OFAC list, blocking all activities related to this platform on U.S. soil.



TORN "spiked" immediately after the news


As soon as the U.S. Treasury announced the lifting of sanctions, the TORN token price surged nearly 100% within minutes.


This reflects great expectations from the market that Tornado Cash will regain liquidity and recover operations after a long period of being stifled.


However, is this a real revival?




Despite being removed from sanctions, Tornado Cash is still not completely free from legal troubles.



  • Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, will stand trial in July 2025 on charges of developing smart contracts for money laundering.


  • Alexey Pertsev, another developer, has also been indicted but has not yet been arrested.



This means that the future of Tornado Cash remains uncertain, even though this platform has been "freed" on paper.



The impact of this decision: Does DeFi have a new opportunity?


Not only does this impact Tornado Cash, but this decision also has far-reaching implications for the entire blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) industry.


The U.S. Treasury acknowledged that it has reevaluated its policy on applying sanctions to financial technologies. In an official statement, the agency said:



"After reviewing the legal and policy issues related to the application of sanctions on developing financial and commercial technologies, we have decided to remove the sanctions against Tornado Cash."



This could open a new discussion about financial privacy on the blockchain, especially with anonymous protocols such as:



  • Monero (XMR)


  • Dash (DASH)


  • Zcash (ZEC)


  • Horizen (ZEN)



This is also a positive signal for DeFi platforms, as the U.S. government seems to be seeking a regulatory framework rather than imposing an outright ban.



Conclusion: Is Tornado Cash really revived or just a "passing fad"?


Although the removal of sanctions is a significant step forward, Tornado Cash still faces many barriers:



  • The legal issues are still not closed – Roman Storm is still awaiting trial.


  • The legality of anonymous protocols remains a big question – will the U.S. continue to ease its policy towards similar platforms?


  • The price of TORN may fluctuate significantly – after the "spike", the market may readjust.


Nevertheless, this is still a positive signal for the entire DeFi ecosystem, as the U.S. government is showing a new perspective on blockchain and financial privacy.


Is Tornado Cash really revived? The answer may still lie ahead! 🚀


#anhbacong