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The U.S. Treasury removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash on March 21, 2025, after reviewing legal and policy questions involving sanctions and evolving technology. The move followed a Fifth Circuit ruling that immutable Tornado Cash smart contracts could not be blocked as foreign “property” under the statute Treasury had used. It was a change to the sanctions designation—not a general ruling that every use of a crypto mixer is lawful, and not an announcement that separate criminal charges had ended.
What changed, and when?
On August 8, 2022, the Treasury Department designated Tornado Cash for sanctions. The department described it as an Ethereum-based mixer that combines transactions before sending funds to recipients, making it harder to identify their origin, destination, and counterparties. Treasury said the service had been used to launder more than $7 billion in virtual currency since its creation in 2019, including more than $455 million stolen by the DPRK-linked Lazarus Group. Those figures are Treasury’s claims, not independently audited totals. Treasury’s 2022 announcement.
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On November 26, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts were not “property” of a foreign national or entity under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and therefore could not be blocked under that law on the rationale used. The court reversed and remanded the case with instructions to grant the plaintiffs partial summary judgment under the Administrative Procedure Act. Read the Fifth Circuit opinion.
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On March 21, 2025, Treasury announced it had exercised its discretion to remove the economic sanctions. It said the decision followed an administration review of novel legal and policy issues involving financial sanctions and evolving technology, and referred to Treasury’s filing earlier that week in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury. Read Treasury’s delisting statement.
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What the court decided—and what it did not
The Fifth Circuit’s holding concerned the statutory meaning of “property” as applied to immutable smart contracts: software code that cannot be changed by a person or organization with control over it. The court concluded that these contracts were not blockable property under IEEPA on the theory before it. Judge Don R. Willett wrote: “Until then, we hold that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts (the lines of privacy-enabling software code) are not the ‘property’ of a foreign national or entity, meaning (1) they cannot be blocked under IEEPA, and (2) OFAC overstepped its congressionally defined authority.”
The ruling did not decide whether Tornado Cash qualified as an entity or whether it held an interest in the contracts. Nor did it declare crypto mixers lawful across the board. Treasury’s later announcement was a separate action: the department said it was removing economic sanctions after reviewing the legal and policy issues.
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Does delisting mean Tornado Cash is legal again?
Not as a blanket conclusion. Treasury’s March 2025 statement establishes that it removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash; it does not establish that every use of the service is lawful, resolve every possible legal issue, or show that separate criminal proceedings ended. Sanctions status and criminal liability are different questions.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsTreasury also said delisting did not eliminate its concerns about illicit finance. It stated that it remained concerned about state-sponsored hacking and money laundering connected to North Korea, and would continue monitoring transactions that could benefit malicious cyber actors or the DPRK and using its authorities against them. The department put it this way: “We remain deeply concerned about the significant state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaign aimed at stealing, acquiring, and deploying digital assets for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Kim regime.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sanctions action and criminal charges are separate
| Issue | Tornado Cash sanctions | Charges against named people |
|---|---|---|
| Government action | Treasury announced removal of economic sanctions on March 21, 2025. | The Justice Department announced charges against Roman Storm and Roman Semenov in August 2023. |
| Legal question | Whether Treasury could block immutable smart contracts as property under IEEPA, and Treasury’s decision to remove the sanctions. | Alleged individual conduct involving conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. |
| What the cited announcement establishes | Treasury’s decision to remove economic sanctions; not a general determination that all use is lawful. | The DOJ announcement describes allegations and says defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty; it does not establish the current status of every related proceeding. |
The DOJ’s August 2023 charging announcement concerns allegations against individuals, not the sanctions designation itself. Treasury’s 2025 delisting statement does not say those charges were dismissed or otherwise resolve their status. A change to sanctions should not be treated as a finding about the outcome of a criminal case.
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