Tornado Cash indictment fails to show ‘clear violation’ of certain laws: Coin Center
Crypto advocacy group Coin Center has criticized the latest indictment of two former Tornado Cash developers, arguing that the facts offered don’t show any clear violations of money-transmitting-related offenses.
Roman Storm and Romen Semenov were indicted by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) on Aug. 23 for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, among other charges.
In a follow-up opinion piece, Coin Center research director Peter Van Valkenburgh argues that the claims in the indictment appear to run counter to guidance from the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — arguing that Tornado Cash only provides the software to transmit money, rather than transmitting the money itself.
New Tornado Cash indictments seem to run counter to FinCEN guidance
Coin Center’s initial thoughts on a case that could potentially criminalize the publication of software codehttps://t.co/YCBv3vsZAE
— Neeraj K Agrawal (@NeerajKA) August 23, 2023
“The only thing the indictment claims regarding the defendants’ unlicensed money transmission is that they ‘engaged in the business of transferring funds on behalf of the public’ and did so without registering with FinCEN,” wrote Valkenburgh.
But does the indictment state any facts that actually show that the defendants engaged in any activities that qualify as money transmission under the relevant law?
He pointed to an interpretation by FinCEN as to what constitutes “money transmission services” under the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, which states:
“An anonymizing software provider is not a money transmitter.”
Valkenburgh then referred to another excerpt stating that only people using the software can be considered money transmitters:
“[A] person that utilizes the software to anonymize the person’s own transactions will be either a user or a money transmitter, depending on the purpose of each transaction.”
While Valkenburgh said that Tornado Cash made it easier for individuals to use the protocol’s smart contracts to transmit money, he argued it doesn’t mean that the developers were money transmitters themselves.
“[But] that doesn’t somehow mean that they became transmitters merely because they provided tools that others used to transmit their own money,” Valkenburgh explained.
Valkenburgh also criticized claims in the indictment suggesting that Storm and Semenov had complete control over the protocol’s smart contracts.
“Ethereum smart contracts are variable and sometimes people have no control over their operation, some control, or total control. This is the key fact needed to determine whether one is performing money transmission, he argued.
Related: Crypto lobbyists still fighting to axe ‘unlawful’ Tornado Cash sanctions
Coin Center first voiced its opposition toward the U.S. Treasury in October when it sued the agency for its unprecedented and unlawful sanctioning of Tornado Cash.
The OFAC indictment claims Storm and Semenov ran an unlicensed money transmission service by engaging in the business of transferring funds on behalf of the public. The enforcement agency claimed the developers should have registered with FinCEN.
Semenov was added to OFAC’s list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons on Aug. 23, while Storm was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington state on the same day.
Alexey Pertsev, another one of Tornado Cash’s founders, was imprisoned by Dutch authorities in Aug. 2022 before being released in late April.
Valkenburgh believes the outcome of the Tornado Cash saga will have a profound impact on the legal rights of United States citizens to build and publish software in the future.
Magazine: Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0 — The race to build safe and legal coin mixers
Zarah Sultana has said she will not pursue legal action in a bid to repair the row that has engulfed her new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Ms Sultana, who co-leads “Your Party” with the former Labour leader, initially said she had hired defamation lawyers following a public spat in which she was accused of launching her own “unauthorised” membership drive.
Politics latest: Nigel Farage holds Reform UK news conference
The former Labour MP, who now represents Coventry South as an independent, admitted she had launched the membership portal without her co-leader’s sign-off, but claimed she did so because she had been “sidelined” by a “sexist boys club”.
Her actions led to Mr Corbyn issuing his own statement, in which he urged members of the party – which has been given the interim name of Your Party – to ignore an “unauthorised” email urging them to become paid members and that legal advice was being taken.
In a fresh statement issued on Sunday evening, Ms Sultana acknowledged her supporters had been left feeling “demoralised” by the saga.
“For the sake of the party, and as an act of good faith, I will not be pursuing legal proceedings despite the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against me,” she said.
“I know many people are feeling demoralised – I share that feeling. We find ourselves in a regrettable situation, but my motivation has always been to ensure the collective strength of our movement, put members first and build the genuinely democratic conference and socialist party we so urgently need.”
She added: “I am determined to reconcile and move forward. I am engaged in ongoing discussions with Jeremy, for whom, like all socialists of my generation, I have nothing but respect.”
Your Party got off to a shaky start when it was announced by Ms Sultana in early July, in a move that appeared to blindside Mr Corbyn.
The pair confirmed the launch a few weeks later, sharing a link to a website called Yourparty.co.uk.
It was later clarified that that was an interim name and that party members would decide a formal name at its inaugural conference in the autumn.
It is understood there are still expectations the conference will go ahead, despite the public fallout last week.
Read more:
Inside Jeremy Corbyn’s new party and the battle for leadership
What is happening at Your Party?
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What is happening at Your Party?
Despite her current attempts to repair the row, Your Party reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office last week after the “false membership” system was “unilaterally launched” by Ms Sultana – which it said was its duty under the law.
Questions remain over the handling of the data, which, as outlined in Your Party’s privacy notice, is owned by the Peace and Justice Project, spearheaded by the former Labour leader and independent activist Pamela Fitzpatrick, who are listed as the directors on Companies House.
The Coventry MP said in a statement after the row broke out that “at no point was members’ data misused or put at risk” and that the portal was “properly launched in accordance with the party’s roadmap”.
The ICO watchdog, which upholds information rights in the public interest, can issue fines up to £17.5m or 4% of global turnover, or pass fraud and negligence cases to police.
A spokesperson for the ICO told Sky News on Friday: “We can confirm we have received a report and are assessing the information provided.”
Governments around the world are exploring and launching stablecoins to remain competitive against dollar-pegged digital fiat tokens.
Politics
Sir Ed Davey brands Elon Musk a criminal and calls for his arrest for ‘allowing online harm to children’
Sir Ed Davey has branded Elon Musk a criminal and called for him to be prosecuted for “allowing online harm to children” on his social media platform X.
The Lib Dem leader told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, is “inciting violence” and his social media platform is actively failing to protect children.
Sir Ed, speaking from the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, said Mr Musk could be prosecuted under the Online Safety Act, under which social media companies have a legal duty to protect children from harmful content and their directors are liable for criminal prosecution for breaching it.
Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters
Asked if he is calling Mr Musk a criminal, Sir Ed did not miss a beat as he said: “Yes.
“Not just because of the awful things he’s done in inciting violence, and, for example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown.
“They were bad enough. But on his platform, they’re examples of adverse, pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, of child sex abuse acts and I think he should be held to account for them, him personally and his business.
“Ofcom now has the powers under the Online Safety Act.”
He said if Mr Musk comes to the UK, he should be arrested.
Read more:
Lib Dems toughen up immigration rhetoric
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Sir Ed Davey enters conference with marching band
Mr Musk was accused of inciting violence during a march organised by Tommy Robinson in London last week.
He told the protest via video link: “This is a message to the reasonable centre, the people who ordinarily wouldn’t get involved in politics, who just want to live their lives. They don’t want that, they’re quiet, they just go about their business.
“My message is to them: if this continues, that violence is going to come to you, you will have no choice. You’re in a fundamental situation here.
“Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth, I think.”
Sir Ed Davey said Elon Musk should be arrested
Sir Ed said it is “shocking” that Mr Musk removed some of X’s child safety teams when he took over Twitter in 2022 and accused him of just being “interested in his bank account”.
“I’m interested in the safety of our children, and it is quite wrong that his business puts on these adverts,” said the Lib Dem leader.
“It’s disgusting and I hope everybody will agree with me and the Liberal Democrats that we should take really strong action against him.”
After Mr Musk acquired Twitter, many of its child safety staff were laid off or resigned, and the platform’s trust and safety council was disbanded.
Child protection experts have accused Mr Musk of leading a “race to the bottom on safety”.
Elon Musk with Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
Ofcom, the UK’s independent media regulator, which has the power to prosecute directors of social media platforms under the Online Safety Act, has launched an investigation into X’s handling of child sexual abuse content.
This is not the first time Sir Ed has hit out at the world’s richest man, as he called for the US ambassador to be summoned in February “to ask why an incoming US official is suggesting the UK government should be overthrown”.
Mr Musk reacted by calling Sir Ed a “snivelling cretin”.
Sir Ed is expected to reiterate his call for Mr Musk’s arrest at his conference speech on Tuesday.
Pic: Reuters
He will accuse Mr Musk of being motivated by “his own ego, power and wealth, rather than the rights and freedoms of the British people”.
The Lib Dems will also table a parliamentary motion summoning Mr Musk to the House of Commons “to be reprimanded for his actions”.
Sky News has approached X and Elon Musk for comment, but as of publication has received no response.
X maintains it has “zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material” and claims tackling those who exploit children is a “top priority”.
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