The US Department of Treasury reversed its sanctions against Tornado Cash, recognizing the matter as moot. On March 21, 2025, the Treasury declared the case as unnecessary, having previously accused Tornado Cash of aiding money laundering, notably linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The Treasury stated: “Based on the Administration’s review of the novel legal and policy issues raised… we have exercised our discretion to remove the economic sanctions against Tornado Cash.”

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, responded critically, labeling the Treasury’s actions as a voluntary cessation and highlighting that the motion to dismiss was improperly handled. He indicated that even though Tornado Cash has been removed from the sanctions list, there is no assurance it won’t be reinstated.

BREAKING: People will once again be able to use Tornado Cash!
These contracts officially have to be removed from the US Gov sanction list.
This is a major win for crypto!
Make Crypto great again!
— KatieePCrypto.pls (@KatieePCrypto) November 26, 2024

On the other side, the Tornado Cash case dismissal by the Treasury has been described as ‘voluntary cessation’. Following legal challenges, the Treasury completed a review of its policies, resulting in the sanctions’ lift, despite warnings from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant about North Korean cyber threats.

Critics worry that lifting these sanctions could enable malicious users to exploit the platform more freely. Grewal argues that without a final judgment, the core issues remain unaddressed, and similar governmental overreach may occur again in the future.

In addition, Tornado Cash’s co-founder, Roman Storm, is due for trial in April after allegedly laundering over $1 billion through their platform, currently out on a $2 million bond.