Coinbase, a popular American crypto exchange, announced this Thursday that it’s funding a lawsuit against the Treasury Department regarding some frozen funds of law-abiding U.S. citizens, for using the privacy protection crypto service, Tornado Cash.
- Two Coinbase employees and 4 others blacklisted by the US Treasury for using Tornado Cash, filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department this Thursday.
- Tornado Cash is an open-source crypto mixer designed to provide privacy protection for Ethereum’s users and even though, the transactions are completely anonymous, they’re still trackable – although harder to track.
- The Treasury Department stated that this cryptocurrency tool has opened the door to a North Korean-backed hacking group to laundry more than 455 million. Moreover, The US Treasury alleged that cybercriminals have laundered more than 7 billion dollars in total.
- Not every Tornado Cash user has unlawful intentions. One plaintiff argued that he used the service to anonymize donations to Ukraine fearing that Russian hackers would fight back. Vitalik Buterin has also claimed to use Tornado Cash for the same purpose.
- Although Coinbase is currently funding a lawsuit against the government department to support Tornado Cash users, Brian Armstrong, the exchange’s CEO is optimistic.
- Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, announced his support for the lawsuit in a tweet, also sharing his optimistic views on this matter. The American entrepreneur has acknowledged the good work that the government has been doing in the past and he’s open to implementing any new solution.
- “Hopefully, reason and justice will prevail, and we will find workable solutions to bring bad actors to justice together without broad overreach”. -Brian Armstrong stated.
See Related: #FreeAlex Rally In Amsterdam Over Arrested Tornado Cash Developer
1/ Coinbase is funding a lawsuit brought by six individuals challenging the Treasury’s sanction of the Tornado Cash smart contracts. https://t.co/DkMHtyt0zR
— Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) September 8, 2022
