The recent actions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against non-custodial crypto wallet developers have sparked controversy and concern within the cryptocurrency community. According to Coin Center, these charges mark a significant shift from previous U.S. policies regarding money transmission, potentially impacting the liberty and privacy rights of developers and users alike. Coin Center: DOJ…
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A new bill co-sponsored by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand, aimed at regulating stablecoins, has drawn criticism for potentially stifling innovation and breaching First Amendment rights. The bill includes a provision that bans all “algorithmic payment stablecoins,” which could have significant implications for software developers and the broader tech community. Lummis-Gillibrand Stablecoin Bill Criticized…
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On December 18, 2023, US Senator Elizabeth Warren sent three letters to the Coin Center Director Jerry Brito, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith, and crypto exchange Coinbase. The senator set January 14, 2024, as the deadline for a response to her inquiries. In the letter addressed to Brito, Senator Warren voiced her concern over reports…
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Washington DC-based Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief in support of crypto think tank Coin Center’s lawsuit against the US Treasury Department over its sanctions against Tornado Cash. Treasury sanctioned the crypto mixer in August, claiming that it laundered more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency and effectively banning Americans from using it. Coin…
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Cryptocurrency and technology proponents have recently been discussing a new bipartisan bill called the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT)” Act. In addition to targeting firms such as Kaspersky, Huawei, and Tiktok, opponents of the bill believe one of its provisions will punish ordinary Americans for leveraging a…
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The non-profit that focuses on policy issues facing cryptocurrencies, Coin Center, has filed a lawsuit against the Treasury department, the secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) director Andrea Gacki. Coin Center’s court filing says that the government’s sanctioning of Tornado Cash exceeds the Treasury’s statutory authority. The…
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The advocacy group alleged OFAC “exceeded their statutory authority” in sanctioning Tornado Cash because the mixer was a “privacy tool beyond the control of anyone.” United States-based crypto policy advocacy group Coin Center has followed through with its intention to take the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC, to court over sanctioning…
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On September 8, the crypto security and smart contract auditing firm Certik revealed that 500,000 DAI was sent through the Tornado Cash mixing platform after the funds were stolen in August 2021. The digital assets originally stemmed from the DAO Maker breach that saw the loss of more than $7 million in ERC20 tokens and…
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On August 15, the non-profit that focuses on policy issues facing crypto assets, Coin Center, published a blog post that says the organization is looking at the legality of the recent Tornado Cash sanctions enforced by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). The post, published by Coin Center’s Jerry Brito and…
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“By treating autonomous code as a ‘person’ OFAC exceeds its statutory authority,” said Coin Center’s Jerry Brito and Peter Van Valkenburgh. United States-based crypto policy advocacy group Coin Center said it intended to “pursue administrative relief” for individuals affected by Tornado Cash sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC.…
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