The Coinbase-funded Tornado Cash lawsuit was successful, protecting the right of good actors to use open source privacy tools. But what about other Tornado Cash lawsuits?
Posted on December 3, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST.
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Last week, the crypto world celebrated a major legal victory when a federal appeals court reversed OFAC's sanctions against Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts in a Coinbase-funded case. While this decision is a major victory for cryptocurrencies, its implications extend far beyond the industry and will challenge the very limits of U.S. sanctions against open source code.
In this episode, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal and Vice President of Legal Affairs Leah Bressack discuss the case, the reasons behind the court's decision, and its broader scope, especially given that other cases are still in court. Discuss the impact. They will ask whether they think the government will appeal, what impact this ruling will have on other privacy tools and other cases, and why this case sets an important precedent at the intersection of norms, law, and innovation. It talks about.
Additionally, what does this mean for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm?
Show highlights:
Why this decision was so important, according to Paul The reasons the judge used in the ruling The basics of Tornado Cash and why OFAC authorized it in 2022 Why Coinbase decided to get involved in the lawsuit Why Did the district court previously agree with OFAC? Will the government appeal? And what impact will this case have on non-cryptocurrencies? When can users start using the protocol? Can users safely use repeaters that add privacy? Why Paul believes the 11th Circuit does Coin Center Tornado Cash case filed, but this 5th Circuit ruling won't be ignored Deaf: Whether the justices were encouraging Congress to update IEEPA to allow OFAC to sanction smart contracts. Is there a risk that OFAC could sanction smart contracts under the new law? Tornado Cash How developer Roman Storm's lawsuit will be affected by this decision Paul and Leah's take on Balaji's proposal to build zero-knowledge to protect privacy ZEthereum's smart contracts Judge's opinion on existing privacy projects What types of sanctions and regulations can governments impose to prevent money laundering?
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episode transcription
