Tornado Cash will explore ways to challenge US sanctions through the courts

Members of the decentralized autonomous organization Tornado DAO called on the community to hire a team of lawyers tothe fight against the US sanctions imposed against the cryptocurrency mixer. It is reported by The Block.

Tornado DAO manages the liquidity of the protocol. The organization has over 9,000 members, but only 163 are active members, according to SnapShot.

One of them advised DAO to raise funds on behalf of Tornado Cash, hire a team of lawyers and, if necessary, file a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court.

According to the author of the initiative, the successful lifting of sanctions will create a precedent for other services that ensure the confidentiality of cryptocurrencies. 

Another community member stated that any foundationlegal protection should be in the on-chain management of the DAO leadership. The law firm that will represent the community in the lawsuit is proposed to be chosen by voting.

A number of respondents reacted skeptically tothis discussion. MakerDAO delegate Chris Black noted that due to the lack of a legal entity called Tornado Cash, the fundraiser would not be considered legitimate. 

"Tornado Cash is code, and the best approach is to fight for the individual's right to privacy," he added.

Community members also called for a fork of the protocolTornado Cash and creating alternative mixer options based on the source code. However, experts believe that, despite the seeming increase in decentralization, new services will not be able to guarantee significant liquidity to users. Since the imposition of sanctions, the protocol has already recorded a decrease in deposits by almost 79%.

"For the effectiveness of the confidentiality protocola "central" implementation is needed, which is used by as many people as possible. Otherwise, it is much easier to deanonymize individual users,” commented one Tornado DAO member.

The official Tornado Cash website is currently down, writes CoinDesk.

“Most people will have difficulty accessing our website because it has been closed,” the service’s Telegram channel says.

According to numerous posts on Twitter, the cryptomixer's Discord channel is also down.

Let us remind you that Tornado Cash is included in the OFAC sanctions list on suspicion of laundering over $7 billion in cryptocurrencies.

Earlier in Amsterdam, law enforcement officers arrested the alleged developer of the service. According to unconfirmed information, we are talking about Alexey Pertsev.

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