TORN, the native token of crypto mixer Tornado Cash, experienced a significant price surge after a U.S. court overturned sanctions imposed on the platform by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The decision marks a major milestone in the ongoing legal saga surrounding Tornado Cash and has sparked renewed interest in its ecosystem.
TORN’s Rapid Price Increase
On January 22, TORN was trading at roughly $9.50. After news of the court ruling broke, the token soared by 140%, reaching a peak of $25.28 as traders reacted to the development. While the price has since pulled back to $17.00, TORN remains significantly higher than its starting point, reflecting growing market optimism.
The Legal Victory for Tornado Cash
Tornado Cash’s troubles began in August 2022, when OFAC sanctioned the platform, alleging that the Lazarus Group, a cybercrime organization tied to North Korea, had used it to launder over $455 million in stolen cryptocurrencies.
These sanctions led to multiple arrests:
• Alex Pertsev, a Tornado Cash developer, was detained in the Netherlands, charged with money laundering, and sentenced to five years in prison.
• Roman Storm, the platform’s co-founder, was arrested in August 2023 and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Storm’s trial is set for April 14, 2025, and he has maintained that he is being unfairly prosecuted for creating open-source software.
In response to the sanctions, six individuals, led by crypto advocate Joseph van Loon, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury, OFAC, and former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. They argued that Tornado Cash is software, not a person or entity, and should not be subject to sanctions.
Their argument was upheld in November 2024 by an appellate court, which ruled that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts could not be classified as “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The court determined that the autonomous and immutable nature of these smart contracts placed them outside the scope of IEEPA regulations.
This week’s ruling, which reaffirmed the November judgment, is a significant win for Tornado Cash supporters. However, it does not affect the criminal cases against Storm or co-founder Roman Semenov, who remains a fugitive.
TORN Token’s Market Performance
The court’s decision had an immediate impact on the price of TORN. The token surged to over $25 before stabilizing around $17.00.
Despite this pullback, TORN has delivered impressive gains:
• Up 122% compared to a week ago.
• Up 88% over the last 30 days.
With a market capitalization now exceeding $68 million, TORN’s performance has outpaced the broader cryptocurrency market, which has only risen by 1.8% in the same period.
The Road Ahead for Tornado Cash
Although the court’s ruling is a key victory for the Tornado Cash community, it does not mark the end of the platform’s legal challenges. Criminal cases against its developers are still ongoing, and regulatory scrutiny surrounding crypto mixers remains intense.
For now, the ruling has provided a much-needed boost to the TORN token, drawing attention back to the project and reigniting debate about the legal treatment of open-source software within the crypto space.
