Coin Center may challenge US Treasury’s sanctions on Tornado Cash in court

August 15, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Center

“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.

In a Monday blog post, Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito and director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh alleged OFAC “overstepped its legal authority” when it named cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash and 44 associated wallet addresses to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, or SDNs, on Aug. 8. The directors claimed Treasury’s actions could have potentially violated U.S. residents’ “constitutional rights to due process and free speech” and they were exploring bringing the matter to court.

“By treating autonomous code as a ‘person’ OFAC exceeds its statutory authority,” said Brito and Van Valkenburgh.

Analysis: What is and what is not a sanctionable entity in the Tornado Cash case.

By treating autonomous code as a “person” OFAC exceeds its statutory authority.https://t.co/kDjoumAhF1
— Coin Center (@coincenter) August 15, 2022

According to the pair, Coin Center will first engage with OFAC to discuss the situation in addition to briefing members of Congress. The advocacy group will then help individuals with funds trapped on any of the 44 USD Coin (USDC) and Ether (ETH) addresses connected to Tornado Cash by applying for a license to withdraw their tokens. Following these actions, the organization will begin exploring challenging the sanctions in court.

Brito and Van Valkenburgh claimed that unlike OFAC’s sanctions against cryptocurrency mixer Blender.io in May — “an entity that is ultimately under the control of certain individuals” that better fit the definition of SDNs — “it can’t be said that Tornado Cash is a person subject to sanctions.” According to the Coin Center executives, this was due to the ETH addresses for the mixer smart contract:

“The Tornado Cash Entity, which presumably deployed the Tornado Cash Application, has zero control over the Application today,” said Brito and Van Valkenburgh. “Unlike Blender, the Tornado Cash Entity can’t choose whether the Tornado Cash Application engages in mixing or not, and it can’t choose which ‘customers’ to take and which to reject.”

They added:

“While typical OFAC actions merely limit expressive conduct (e.g. donating money to a particular Islamic charity), this action sends a signal — indeed seems to have been intended to send a signal — that a certain class of tools and software should not be used by Americans even for entirely legitimate purposes. Even if this listing is truly and exclusively aimed at stopping North Korean hackers from using Tornado Cash, and even if the chilling effect on the use of the tool by Americans for legitimate reasons was acceptable to OFAC in a collateral impact analysis, it may not be sufficient to a court.”

Following the announcement of the sanctions against Tornado Cash, individuals associated with the controversial mixer reported being cut off from some centralized platforms amid the controversy. Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov reported developer platform GitHub had suspended his account on Monday, and users of the mixer’s decentralized autonomous organization and Discord channel said the two media also went dark.

In June, Coin Center took the U.S. Treasury to federal court, alleging the government department provisioned an unconstitutional amendment in the infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021. The group claimed that a provision in the law was aimed at gathering information about individuals engaged in crypto transactions.

Coin Center takes US Treasury to court over alleged financial spying

June 11, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Center

Coin Center filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department in federal district court — challenging the enforcement of Section 6050I’s reporting mandate.

Coin Center, a Washingon, DC-based non-profit blockchain advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of the Treasury for allegedly provisioning an unconstitutional amendment in the controversial infrastructure bill.

Coin Center lawsuit information about plaintiffs and defendants. Source: Case: 5:22-cv-00149-KKC

In an official announcement, Coin Center revealed the filing of a suit against the Treasury Department in federal district court — challenging the enforcement of Section 6050I’s reporting mandate within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The lawsuit read:

“In 2021, President Biden and Congress amended a little-known tax reporting mandate. If the amendment is allowed to go into effect, it will impose a mass surveillance regime on ordinary Americans.”

The 6050I amendment requires individuals and businesses to report information related to all incoming transactions worth $10,000 or more, which includes the sender’s name, date of birth and Social Security number.

Coin Center, in its announcement, highlighted how the amendment affects the entire crypto community, including the NGOs that receive anonymous donations and nonfungible token (NFT) artists who will have to reveal their client’s personal information to the government.

In the first claim of the lawsuit, Coin Center alleged that the 6050I provision is not aimed at collecting information about the third parties but rather focuses on the information about the general public participating in crypto transactions.

“The second claim is about our freedom of association,” the company added as it pointed out a Supreme Court ruling that forbids the government from forcing organizations to keep and report lists of their members.

On an end note, Coin Center reached out to the crypto community for support, stating that:

“We are considering adding additional co-plaintiffs to this suit, so if you might fit this description and are interested, please get in touch.”

Last week, on June 7, Cointelegraph came across a leaked copy of a US draft bill concerning cryptocurrency doing the rounds on Twitter.

here you go

(plz RT) pic.twitter.com/UOVhIUiUBu
— slam (@bot_slam) June 7, 2022

Further investigations revealed the regulators’ concerns around user protection across the decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and crypto exchanges ecosystems.

US Unveils Bill Giving Treasury Secretary ‘Unchecked and Unilateral Power’ to Ban Crypto Transactions, Advocate Warns

January 27, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Treasury Pushes Global Crypto Reporting Rules in $3.5T Budget Bill

August 31, 2021 The Crypto Briefing

2 Senators introduce pro-crypto amendment to infrastructure bill; industry says it’s not enough

August 7, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Center

Perianne Boring, the founder and president of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, provided details about the proposed amendment Saturday afternoon.

United States senators Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema, both Democrats from Virginia and Arizona, respectively, have introduced a new amendment to the infrastructure bill that would lessen the burden on cryptocurrency tax reporting for miners and wallet providers.

As Perianne Boring reported Saturday afternoon, the senators are endorsing an amendment that would exclude cryptocurrency miners and hardware and software wallet providers from being subject to new tax reporting provisions. The amendment would broaden an earlier update proposed by the same lawmakers, along with Ohio Republican Rob Portman.

Senator @MarkWarner and @SenatorSinema have offered a new amendment with tech neutral language. If cloture is invoked, there will be 30 hours of debate left, then they will vote on the base text. We still don’t have any indication when they are going to vote on amendments. pic.twitter.com/4IpiFkfpud
— Perianne Boring (@PerianneDC) August 7, 2021

The current version of the bill considers these entities to be “brokers” that facilitate the transfer of cryptocurrencies between users. If these entities are indeed classified as brokers, they would have to monitor and track user transactions despite them not being actual customers. Opponents of the proposed law say it would be nearly impossible for miners to fulfill these obligations adequately.

The cryptocurrency community has, with few exceptions, banded together to form a united front against the proposed infrastructure bill. Many influencers have urged their followers to contact their state and local representatives to voice their opposition to the bill. In their view, the new tax reporting requirements are unworkable for cryptocurrency miners, wallet providers and protocol developers, which means their implementation would stifle innovation and adoption for the nascent industry.

Agreed, this is not the time to pick technology winners or losers in cryptocurrency technology. There is no crisis that compels hasty legislation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2021

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey opposed a previous iteration of the bill proposed by Mark Warner, arguing that the “amendment makes it worse, especially for open source developers."

This bill has so many issues. And the @MarkWarner amendment makes it worse, especially for open source developers.

And no rationale has been provided…only rumors. https://t.co/cMAMk2TuBX
— jack⚡️ (@jack) August 7, 2021

Jerry Brito, who heads Coin Center, a D.C.-based crypto think tank, wrote a detailed thread explaining two competing amendments and how they would impact the digital asset market. He contrasted Warner’s initial amendment, which he described as a “misguided [attempt] to pick technological winners and losers,” with an alternative proposal put forth by a bipartisan group that includes Ron Wyden, Cynthia Lummis and Pat Toomey.

1/ We need to fight misguided attempts to pick technological winners and losers, but we can't lose sight of another important difference between the Warner-Portman-Sinema amendment and the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment.
— Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 6, 2021

Regarding Warner's revised proposal submitted on Saturday, Brito said it's "still not as good as the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment,” which excludes protocol developers from the tax reporting requirement.

Senator Warner has revised his proposed amendment! It no longer limit the “validator” exception to proof-of-work. I think he heard our voices on that. But it still does not protect protocol devs. pic.twitter.com/JXOFRvuSs3
— Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 7, 2021

Barring any further delays, the Senate is expected to vote on the bill late Saturday or on Sunday.

Bitcoin likely won’t entirely replace current financial system, Coin Center director says

May 28, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Center

Bitcoin may not make the current monetary and financial system extinct, although its usage will likely vary depending on one’s location.

Bitcoin may not mean an end to traditional currency and banking, according to Peter Van Valkenburgh, research director at Coin Center.

“I think there’s folks in the Bitcoin community who probably make too many noises about how Bitcoin is going to dominate all economic systems and nobody will be using dollars anymore, and nobody will be using banks anymore, and I think that’s actually a little foolhardy,” Van Valkenburgh said in a Friday interview with the Washington Journal on C-Span.

“The fact of the matter is that there’s going to be times when a Bitcoin transaction is what you want. Definitely if you are in an oppressive state like Nigeria or Belarus you might find it more useful to use Bitcoin. In the U.S., we have a pretty stable banking system. We have the rule of law, we have a pretty well-functioning government.”

The way in which Bitcoin is used can depend on users’ geographic location. In some countries, Bitcoin (BTC) is seen as more of a speculative asset, used for trading and investing.

In other regions, Bitcoin can serve as a vehicle of greater freedom, providing users more flexibility and faster payments, as well as an avenue out of inflationary troubles when compared to traditional finance and currency.

“Generally speaking, here in the U.S., you’ll probably still use credit cards and Venmo and things like that, but maybe you’ll want to buy some Bitcoin because it can be a way to balance your investment portfolio against the threat of inflation,” Van Valkenburgh said, subsequently referring to similarity to gold in terms of limited supply.

“So maybe, you know, as part of a balanced portfolio that includes other safer investments, you might have a little bit of Bitcoin to hedge against inflation,” he noted.

Crypto lobby groups are gaining traction in Washington as the threat of regulatory bottleneck looms

April 6, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin regulation

The blockchain industry is looking to shed the negative association between digital assets and crime as the threat of additional regulatory oversight looms.

Crypto-focused lobbying groups in Washington, DC are playing an increasingly vital role in reorienting policymakers away from the view that digital currencies are used primarily for illegal transactions. Now, they are preparing for, potentially, their biggest battle yet.

The Blockchain Association, an industry trade group representing crypto firms, has added 10 members to its brass since December 2020, bringing its total to 34. Kristin Smith, the group’s executive director, told Bloomberg that the association's members are extremely concerned about federal regulators clamping down on the industry over misplaced fears.

“We in the industry think it’s hugely problematic,” she said, adding that “It misses the entire point of this innovation.”

Smith was commenting on recent proposals by the Financial Action Task Force and Treasury Department to increase surveillance of the cryptocurrency market over concerns about money laundering and other illicit activities. The proposals, which could be finalized later this year, would place more burdens on investors and blockchain networks.

Coin Center, a leading DC-based advocacy group, is raising money in preparation for a lengthy lobbying battle or lawsuit over the proposed regulations. Jeremey Brito, the group’s executive director, told Bloomberg:

“Our job is to say absolutely there is a real risk here and that we all need to work together, but don’t throw away the baby with the bathwater.”

Grayscale, the world’s largest digital asset manager, donated $2 million to Con Center earlier this year. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also contributed $1 million to the advocacy group.

Despite concerns about sweeping government regulations, the threat of an outright ban on digital assets is long gone, according to billionaire investor Tyler Winklevoss. In a recent What Bitcoin Did podcast episode with Peter McCormack, Winklevoss said:

“I think that the U.S. will never outlaw Bitcoin. There’s too much precedent that’s been set in the courts. The Coinflip order, which was a CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] enforcement action which was upheld in the courts, considered Bitcoin a commodity like gold.”

Digital assets have reentered public discourse over the past six months as Bitcoin (BTC) charted new all-time highs and major institutions like Morgan Stanley and MassMutual got involved. On the corporate side, Tesla and MicroStrategy have added billions of dollars worth of BTC to their balance sheets — moves that many believe will normalize digital-asset exposure moving forward.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock have all recognized Bitcoin’s emergence as a new asset class and, in some cases, one that could challenge gold for store-of-value supremacy.

Cryptocurrencies have reached several major milestones this year. The collective market capitalization of all digital assets topped $1 trillion in January before doubling less than three months later.

Coin Center

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