Tornado Cash Permanently Barred From Being Sanctioned by OFAC

The U.S. federal court has now permanently barred the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) from placing sanctions on crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The ruling, issued on Friday, April 28, by Austin federal court judge Robert Pitman, could have huge implications for how open-source crypto protocols are held liable for the actions of those who use their tools.

The case began in August 2022, when the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, alleging that the crypto mixer had been used by North Korean hacker group Lazarus to launder digital assets stolen in several hacks. At the time, Tornado Cash argued that its developers should not be held accountable for how others use their open-source code.

Judge Pitman’s ruling ultimately agrees with that stance, striking a major blow to OFAC and setting a significant precedent for the broader crypto industry.

Although OFAC removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list in March, the crypto protocol has continued to fight in court to clear its name and challenge what it sees as excessive government control.

Initially, a lower court sided with the U.S. Treasury, but that decision was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court, setting the stage for Judge Pitman to issue his final ruling.

Now, OFAC is barred from placing sanctions on Tornado Cash as a protocol, and the crypto mixer will no longer be subject to any outstanding discovery requests.

Judge Pitman’s ruling is a major victory for Tornado Cash and the larger open-source crypto community. The decision reaffirms that developers should not be held responsible for the actions of those who use their code.

This ruling has significant implications for privacy-focused tools in the crypto space, which are increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny.

However, while Tornado Cash has won a key battle in its legal fight, the war is far from over.

Despite having his charges dropped by the DOJ in December, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is still set to appear in court on July 24, 2025, for the next stage of his own case.

Also on Friday, the DeFi Education Fund urged the White House to drop the charges against Storm and to intervene in what the fund sees as a critical juncture for the future of Web3 and decentralized technologies in the U.S.

The fund expressed concern that holding developers responsible for the misuse of their code could have devastating consequences for innovation in the rapidly evolving field of crypto.