The long-running legal battle between crypto advocacy group Coin Center and the U.S. Treasury Department over the sanctioning of Tornado Cash has officially concluded.
In a post dated June 7 on X (formerly Twitter), Coin Center’s Director of Research, Peter Van Valkenburgh, confirmed that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has formally dismissed the case.
The case stemmed from OFAC’s 2022 decision to sanction Tornado Cash, a decentralized crypto mixer.
They cited its alleged role in enabling illegal transactions, including money laundering operations tied to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus.
Coin Center had argued the sanctions overreached the government’s authority and violated First Amendment rights, but federal courts ultimately ruled against those claims.
Government Withdraws After Mixed Court Rulings and OFAC Rescission
The Eleventh Circuit’s dismissal follows a notable legal turn in which a separate Texas court earlier this year ordered OFAC to lift its sanctions on Tornado Cash.
The government chose not to appeal that decision, leading the appeals court to declare that the case was now moot.
According to court documents, the government acknowledged that OFAC’s rescission nullified the need for further litigation.
Although Coin Center held the position that the appeal would only become moot after the Texas court’s ruling became final and unappealable, the federal court’s dismissal marks the official end of this phase of the case.
Van Valkenburgh criticized the government’s retreat, arguing it avoided defending an overly broad interpretation of sanctions laws that threatened to criminalize open-source technology.
Also Read: North Korea’s Lazarus Hacker Group Deposits 400 $ETH (~$750K) into Tornado Cash
Legal Focus Shifts to Tornado Cash Developers as Roman Storm Trial Approaches
While the policy battle over OFAC’s sanctions may be over, Tornado Cash’s developers still face serious legal jeopardy.
Roman Storm, a co-founder of the protocol, is scheduled to stand trial on July 14 in New York on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Storm, who has repeatedly denied knowingly facilitating criminal activity, faces mounting pressure as the DOJ intensifies its scrutiny of DeFi platforms.
His co-founder Alexey Pertsev was convicted earlier this year in the Netherlands and sentenced to 64 months in prison.
Although recently released under house arrest, Pertsev’s conviction set a troubling precedent for developers of decentralized protocols.
A third developer, Roman Semenov, remains at large and is listed as a fugitive in the ongoing U.S. criminal case.
Also Read: DEXX Hackers Launder 6,432 ETH Worth Over $10 Million Through Tornado Cash Protocol
DOJ Adjusts Charges, Ethereum Foundation Steps in with Legal Support
Ahead of Storm’s trial, U.S. prosecutors dropped the “unlicensed money transmission” charge, indicating a narrowing of the case’s scope.
However, they continue to pursue money laundering allegations, arguing that Tornado Cash facilitated the movement of illicit funds.
In response, the Ethereum Foundation has donated $1.25 million toward the co-founders’ legal defense, joining a growing number of DeFi advocates who argue that writing open-source code should not be a crime.
Total donations supporting the Tornado Cash developers now approach $3 million.
The case has sparked debate across the crypto and legal communities, raising important questions about privacy, developer responsibility, and the boundaries of government enforcement in decentralized systems.
Also Read: Crypto Scam: Phishing Attack That Drained $55.4M DAI, Hacker Moves 900 ETH To Tornado Cash
Prosecutors Push to Block Defense Witnesses, Raising Trial Stakes
Adding to the tension surrounding the upcoming trial, the Department of Justice has filed to block several expert witnesses set to testify in Storm’s defense.
Prosecutors labeled these witnesses as potential sources of juror confusion, likening them to a “Trojan horse” meant to influence the jury’s understanding of DeFi and blockchain privacy tools.
Legal observers note that the removal of these witnesses could significantly hamper Storm’s ability to explain the technical and decentralized nature of Tornado Cash to a lay jury.
As the trial date nears, the Tornado Cash case continues to stand at the intersection of privacy rights, criminal liability.
The future of innovation in blockchain development, a defining moment not just for the defendants, but for the broader crypto ecosystem.
Also Read: Polterfinance Hacker Moves 120 ETH To Tornado Cash After $8.7M Exploit