Texas judge ruled Tornado Cash could not be sanctioned again

PANews reported on April 30 that according to CoinDesk, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas made a final ruling, deciding that the Office of Overseas Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department's sanctions against Tornado Cash were illegal and permanently prohibited from imposing sanctions on the currency mixer. This marks the final victory of the legal dispute that lasted for two years with the victory of the privacy agreement.

Court documents show that although OFAC voluntarily removed Tornado Cash from the sanctions list in March 2024, Judge Robert Pitman pointed out that he retained the intention to re-sanction in the future and stressed that "the Fifth Circuit's ruling requirement must be enforced." Six plaintiffs' lawyers in this case have accused OFAC of trying to evade judicial review through technical operations.

It is worth noting that two Tornado Cash developers, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, still face criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice, who are still on the OFAC sanctions list. The ruling is only aimed at the agreement itself and does not involve judicial proceedings against developers.