Tornado Cash indictment fails to show 'clear violation' of certain laws: Coin Center
Coin Center research director Peter Van Valkenburgh argued that crypto mixer Tornado Cash is an anonymizing software provider, not a money transmitter. Crypto advocacy group Coin Center has criticized the latest indictment of two former Tornado Cash developers, arguing that the facts offered don't show any clear violations of money-transmitting-related offenses. Roman Storm and Romen Semenov were indicted by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) on Aug. 23 for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, among other charges. In a follow-up opinion piece, Coin Center research director Peter Van Valkenburgh argues that the claims in the indictment appear to run counter to guidance from the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — arguing that Tornado Cash only provides the software to transmit money, rather than transmitting the money itself. New Tornado Cash indictment s seem to run counter to FinCEN guidance Coin Center’s initial thought...