Wake up babe, there's a new filing in Tornado Cash, and it's just about as embarrassing as the rest of the shitshow the DOJ has been assembling over the past two years 👇
This time, it persists that Storm profited from Tornado Cash smart contracts, arguing directly against arguments made by the Fifth Circuit, which found that "none of the immutable smart contracts entitle the smart-contract creators to a benefit."
Imagine a car manufacturer being held liable for profiting from illicit activity because a car they manufactured was used in a bank robbery, or a computer manufacturer because a machine they sold was used in a hack.
Tornado Cash should have stopped illicit activity, even though we concede that Tornado Cash couldn't stop illicit activity, or so the argument goes.
What about the Chainalysis sanctions oracle Tornado Cash implemented to block OFAC listed entities from accessing the service?
That's "window dressing," the Government says – an inefficient step that was only taken to "make a public announcement that TC wasn't violating the law." OK then.
The Government continues to appear to allege that the sole purpose of Tornado Cash was to enable criminal transactions, again making references to the prosecution of Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht – ignoring the fact that while Silk Road operated as a dark net market, Tornado Cash illicit transactions are only estimated to have made up around 14% of overall activity be the Government's own calculations, primarily pertaining to funds originating from hacks.
What's worse is that the Government doubles down on charging the developers for the development of a User Interface, continuing to attempt to enforce FATF recommendation 66 against FinCEN guidance and despite the lack of official adoption.
This case is a complete abomination of the US justice system. Everyone working on its prosecution should be fired.
