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 Bloomberg, informed sources have revealed that the White House is set to nominate Kristin Johnson, a Democratic commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to the position of Assistant Secretary for Banking at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. This news is expected to be officially announced soon.If confirmed, Johnson will play a significant policy-making role at the Treasury, responsible for coordinating with other financial regulatory agencies (including banking institutions, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the CFTC), developing legislation, and participating in the formulation of cybersecurity policies. Given the limited Senate schedule, it is uncertain whether Johnson will be confirmed before the end of the year. If Johnson leaves the CFTC, it could lead to a stalemate at the agency, affecting the progress of rule-making efforts.

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, U.S. Treasury: We should strengthen the regulation of decentralized financial services. (Source link)

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)