The U.S. Department of the Treasury has decided to follow a court ruling to lift the sanctions imposed on the corporations utilized by North Korean hackers for money laundering.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on the 21st (local time) that it had decided to lift economic sanctions on Tornado Cash.
Tornado Cash was sanctioned for allegedly providing mixing services necessary to launder cryptocurrencies in a way that judicial authorities cannot trace them, linking to criminal groups such as the hacker organization 'Lazarus Group' associated with North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau.
However, Tornado Cash users filed a lawsuit claiming that the sanctions were unfair, and a U.S. court ruled last November to lift the sanctions on Tornado Cash.
The Treasury stated that the decision to lift the sanctions was based on the evaluation by the administration of the new legal and policy issues arising from financial sanctions targeting financial and commercial activities occurring within an evolving technological and legal environment.
The Treasury emphasized that this lifting of sanctions does not indicate a weakening of the administration's will to impose sanctions against malicious cyber activities such as North Korea's cryptocurrency theft.
The Treasury noted, 'We are still deeply concerned about North Korea and Kim Jong Un's regime engaging in large-scale state-sponsored hacking and money laundering campaigns aimed at the theft, acquisition, and use of digital assets.'
It further explained, 'The Treasury remains committed to utilizing our authorities to expose and disrupt the ability of malicious cyber actors to profit from their criminal activities through the abuse of digital assets and the digital asset ecosystem.'
The Treasury also indicated, 'We are committed to enforcing our sanctions to limit the funding capabilities necessary for the North Korean regime's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.'