Which Addresses Were Removed?

According to the updated SDN list, the following Ethereum wallet addresses are no longer subject to sanctions:

• 0x12D66f87A04A9E220743712cE6d9bB1B5616B8Fc
• 0x47CE0C6eD5B0Ce3d3A51fdb1C52DC66a7c3c2936
• 0x910Cbd523D972eb0a6f4cAe4618aD62622b39DbF
• 0xA160cdAB225685dA1d56aa342Ad8841c3b53f291
• 0xD4B88Df4D29F5CedD6857912842cff3b20C8Cfa

Additionally, Tornado Cash’s official website has also been removed from the sanctions list. This decision has sparked widespread attention in the cryptocurrency industry and has been welcomed by many developers and investors alike.

What is Tornado Cash?

Tornado Cash is a decentralized privacy protocol operating on the Ethereum blockchain. It allows users to make anonymous transactions by obfuscating transaction details and breaking on-chain links between source and destination addresses. The protocol uses zk-SNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge) technology to guarantee privacy and anonymity.

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While Tornado Cash was initially designed for privacy protection, it was also exploited for illicit purposes, including money laundering activities allegedly linked to North Korean hacker groups such as Lazarus. In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash for providing a platform that facilitated these illegal transactions.

What is OFAC?

OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) is an agency under the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Its role is to enforce economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. OFAC targets terrorists, drug traffickers, cyber threats, and individuals involved in illicit financial activities through its sanctions programs.

In 2022, OFAC designated Tornado Cash on its sanctions list, effectively banning U.S. persons from interacting with the protocol. However, this latest update shows a degree of flexibility in regulatory approaches, as certain addresses and the website have now been delisted.

Potential Impact on the Crypto Ecosystem

The partial lifting of sanctions on Tornado Cash addresses may set a precedent for other privacy-oriented projects. However, it’s important to note that this is not a complete removal of sanctions, but rather a specific delisting of selected wallet addresses and the website. Regulatory agencies continue to evolve their approaches to cryptocurrency projects, offering both new opportunities and risks for the industry.

This development is seen as a positive step by many in the blockchain space, potentially signaling a shift toward more nuanced regulation of privacy protocols.

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The post Tornado Cash Addresses Removed from OFAC Sanctions List! appeared first on Coin Engineer.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) says that official documents show that Senators Roger Marshall and Elizabeth Warren asked the Biden administration to clarify the potential use of Tether stablecoin by North Korea, Iran, and Russia.

According to the paper, Russian enterprises were using stablecoin Tether, which is underpinned by the US dollar, as a purchasing tool for buying drone parts and some other equipment from abroad, which enabled them to get around the sanctions.

The Senators were eager to know if the Defense Department and the Joe Biden administration supported the Treasury Department’s request for additional authority in light of this new revelation.

As Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Treasury Secretary, said, Congress had to give new authorities since North Korea, Hamas, and the Russian military-industrial complex actively used cryptocurrency in April.

Tether has always been open about its collaboration with US authorities and its willingness to freeze the wallets of businesses using the stablecoin for sanctions evasion if necessary.

At the end of April, Tether representatives undertook to ban OFAC-sanctioned addresses. The media revealed the news after they reported that the state oil corporation of Venezuela is using the Tether stablecoin in order to evade US sanctions.

The post Senators Concerned Over Tether’s Use by Sanctioned Nations appeared first on Coin Engineer.

In December, the company blocked 41 wallets associated with the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Since the United States decided to implement sanctions again because of worries about Venezuela’s forthcoming election, PDVSA’s usage of USDT—which started last year—has picked up speed.

In 2018, Venezuela launched a cryptocurrency experiment using a token named “petro” to combat economic instability caused by U.S. sanctions. A lack of interest in the token led to its shelving earlier this year.

Cryptocurrencies enable PDVSA and its counterparties to circumvent the US government’s ability to seize international bank accounts holding fiat currency. Reuters states that in order to make tether transactions less traceable, PDVSA employs intermediaries.

After slapping penalties on a crypto mixer that was reportedly used by North Korean hackers in December, OFAC fined crypto exchange CoinList $1.2 million for enabling Russian users to escape sanctions, further demonstrating its familiarity with the cryptocurrency industry.

Tether blocked 32 cryptocurrency addresses associated with terrorism and conflict in Ukraine and Israel in October of last year. On the other hand, Tether stood firm a year ago against the practice of freezing wallets associated with Tornado Cash, a sanctioned coin-mixing provider.

The post Tether’s Response to US Sanctions: Freezing Wallets appeared first on Coin Engineer.

According to information shared by Reuters, the oil company is considering using USDT more actively to prevent its foreign bank accounts from being blocked.

It is stated that PDVSA started selling oil through USDT against US sanctions since last year.

PDVSA also demands that new customers who will make agreements with the company keep cryptocurrencies in a digital wallet. It is suggested that this is also valid for some old customers.

PDVSA is receiving help from intermediary institutions to cover up the tracks of its oil sales with USDT.

The post Solution to US Sanctions Found in This Coin! appeared first on Coin Engineer.