People looking to keep their cryptocurrency transactions private now have an opportunity to do so as the plaintiffs strive to regain access to Tornado Cash, a blockchain privacy and anonymity protocol. The plaintiffs have made the case that government sanctions of the software for its potential use by foreign individuals should be overturned, as the software does not fall under the category of a foreign “national” or “person” but instead is functioning as computer code.

The plaintiffs are among thousands of law-abiding Americans who wish to preserve their privacy online, but are effectively barred from doing so by the government’s sanctions. Part of the challenge is based on the premise that the law only permits the government to sanction a person’s “property”, something that is controllable and capable of ownership. The 20 smart contracts at the core of the Tornado Cash software are without human control, and thus cannot be owned by any foreign national or sanctioned person. Therefore, an argument is made that the government cannot approve something that can’t be owned or controlled.

Additionally, the plaintiffs have also questioned the interpretation of the word “property” and argued that if open-source code can be sanctioned, any intangible concept can hypothetically be banned. Similarly, the First Amendment has been invoked, as the sanctions are argued to be excessively broad, preventing thousands of individuals from using the protocol for the exchange of cryptocurrency for social or economic benefit.

In conclusion, their motion for summary judgement is currently being argued - but if successful, it could restore access to Tornado Cash and the right to privacy for thousands of blockchain users in the United States.



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