According to ChainCatcher news, the plaintiff Van Loon appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court on September 2, suing the U.S. Department of the Treasury for its decision to place Tornado Cash on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The plaintiff argues that the Treasury imposed sanctions on this open-source project without clear guidelines, which could threaten programmers' First Amendment rights. Van Loon and his team sued the Treasury in September 2023, accusing it of overstepping its authority.Tornado Cash was sanctioned for allegedly being involved in money laundering activities, with the government claiming that the platform has been linked to over $7 billion in illegal funds since 2019. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) supports this lawsuit, expressing concerns that government sanctions could have a chilling effect on open-source software development. A lower court previously dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the sanctions were limited to transactions involving Tornado Cash smart contracts and did not affect the development and discussion of open-source code. However, the EFF and other digital rights advocates remain vigilant about the broader implications of the case, emphasizing the importance of protecting programmers' rights.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency think tank Coin Center has received approval from a U.S. appeals court to re-examine its lawsuit against the Treasury Department and the IRS.In 2022, Coin Center sued them over a controversial amendment to U.S. tax law that requires individuals to disclose certain cryptocurrency transactions and the personal details of the participants in those transactions to the IRS. Coin Center argues that the amendment violates the U.S. Constitution and is evidence of "tyrannical surveillance" of cryptocurrency users.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (DOT) released a semi-annual regulatory agenda on August 16, revealing that the federal government is set to create a fair regulatory environment for both cryptocurrencies and traditional fiat currencies. The Federal Reserve Board (FRS) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) plan to amend the definition of "currency" used in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to strengthen reporting requirements for financial institutions regarding domestic and cross-border cryptocurrency transactions.According to the agenda: "These agencies hope that the revised proposal will ensure that the rules apply to domestic and cross-border transactions involving convertible virtual currencies, which are a medium of exchange (such as cryptocurrencies) that have value equivalent to or can substitute for currency but lack legal tender status."The proposal will also extend reporting requirements to digital assets with legal tender status, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The final notice for the proposed rulemaking is currently scheduled to be published in September 2025, pending approval.

ChainCatcher news reports that the sanctions regulator has stated that Poloniex LLC, a U.S. entity previously affiliated with the Poloniex cryptocurrency exchange, will pay $7.59 million to settle allegations of violations of sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).In a press release, OFAC stated that between January 2014 and November 2019, the platform had nearly 66,000 violations of various sanctions programs, allowing customers from sanctioned jurisdictions such as Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria to conduct transactions totaling up to $15 million. (CoinDesk)

ChainCatcher news, according to NFTgators, this week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's tax division released a document classifying NFTs alongside stablecoins and other virtual currencies as digital assets. The document states, "Digital assets are digital representations of value recorded on a distributed ledger or similar technology, such as NFTs and stablecoins. If a specific asset has the characteristics of a digital asset, it will be considered a digital asset for federal income tax purposes." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the policy nonprofit Coin Center based in Washington, D.C. is suing the U.S. Treasury, claiming it overstepped its authority when it sanctioned the decentralized mixing protocol Tornado Cash in August. This is the second lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury regarding sanctions, following a lawsuit supported by Coinbase filed by six individuals who used the software, including two Coinbase employees. (The Block)

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a settlement agreement with cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex totaling over $29 million.It is reported that Bittrex lacked sanctions control measures from 2014 to 2017, willfully violating the BSA's anti-money laundering (AML) program and SAR requirements, facilitating $263,451,600.13 in sanctioned transactions. FinCEN's investigation found that from February 2014 to December 2018, Bittrex failed to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, leading to significant risks of illegal financing.According to the official statement, Bittrex has agreed to pay $29,280,829.20 for its willful violations of the BSA's anti-money laundering program and SAR requirements. Of this, Bittrex has agreed to pay OFAC $24,280,829.20 to settle potential civil liabilities for violating multiple sanctions regulations. (The Block)