August 16, 2022: DCFi 🇺🇸🏦

Will Washington DC and "DeFi" Protocols Enforce an Unfair Finance Oligopoly?

One week in, the firestorm over Tornado Cash remains too important to let it drop. We reiterate our initial take: of course everybody should comply with all laws and sanctions.

Nonetheless, the top priority for the crypto community remains legal pushback. Tactically, the best approach appears to be mounting a strong and well-funded legal challenge to this blatant assault against the Constitution.

It’s not yet clear where this legal challenge will come from. Coin Center for one has announced they are exploring a court challenge. Prepare to open your wallets to fundraise en masse for whichever organization ultimately files such a challenge.

EFF @EFF

EFF is deeply concerned that the U.S. Treasury Department has included an open source computer project, Tornado Cash, on its list of sanctioned individuals. Tornado Cash is an open source software project and website that published a decentralized cryptocurrency mixer.

Coin Center @coincenter

Analysis: What is and what is not a sanctionable entity in the Tornado Cash case. By treating autonomous code as a “person” OFAC exceeds its statutory authority.

coincenter.orgAnalysis: What is and what is not a sanctionable entity in the Tornado Cash case - Coin CenterBy treating autonomous code as a “person” OFAC exceeds its statutory authority.

The remainder of the article is paywalled because we actually say a few nice things about the US government, and wouldn’t want such dangerous takes to spread too far.

Paywalled content goes towards PAC DAO, which has announced a fundraiser to support whichever organization ends up mounting a legal challenge — so subscribing to this newsletter benefits the cause! Join PAC’s Discord to get a sneak peek.