Six Tornado Cash users backed by Coinbase filed lawsuit against US Treasury Department for violating the rights of free speech and overstepping its authority by banning the mixing platform.
The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Tornado Cash to limit money laundering and cybercrimes using cryptocurrency. This angered the crypto community, especially the platform users.
In recent months, many crypto users have been utilizing Tornado Cash to make transactions. The platform protected their privacy when transferring funds but also led to an increase in money laundering.
Additionally, the hackers have also been using the same platform to transfer the stolen funds to untraceable wallets, making it hard for regulators to trace the money back.
However, the Tornado Cash ban hasn’t been widely accepted. The users who filed a 20-page complaint claim that they cannot access their Ethereum funds transferred via the platform.
The six users include Preston Van Loon and his brother Joseph from the Ethereum community, and Tyler Almeida from Coinbase. In fact, Coinbase announced it will back its employees on the lawsuit.
Following the news of Coinbase backing the lawsuit, Coinbase’s head lawyer Paul Grewal clarified that the exchange seeks fair decisions and wants to highlight that the authorities are overstepping.
Like the Plaintiffs, many people have dismissed the ban on Tornado Cash that played an important role in protecting their privacy against danger such as donating funds for Ukraine.
The US Treasury hasn’t shared any statement about the lawsuit as of now.