After being banned for several weeks, crypto mixer Tornado Cash is now back on the software development platform GitHub
Preston Van Loon, an Ethereum developer, took to Twitter to report GitHub had partially unbanned Tornado Cash and its contributors. According to the developer, Tornado Cash’s code repositories have been put in read-only mode by GitHub. This means that GitHub has yet to restore full functionality.
“But this is progress over an outright ban. Van Loon stated that GitHub should reverse any actions taken and restore repositories back to their original status.
According to GitHub data the most recent Tornado Cash repositories update were made Aug. 22, shortly after Tornado Cash founder Roman Semenov reported that his account was on the platform. The United States Office of Foreign Asset Control prohibited US residents to use Tornado Cash. It also blacklisted 44 USD Coin ( USDC), and Ether ( ETH) addresses that were associated with the mixer.
Tornado Cash’s return was made to GitHub shortly after the OFAC clarified its policies about Tornado Cash on September 13. It stated that U.S. residents wouldn’t be violating sanctions by copying or making the code available online. The OFAC stated that U.S. citizens would be allowed to visit the Tornado Cash website again if it becomes online.
@github Please unban @TornadoCash codes repositories immediately.
OFAC stated that “U.S. persons will not be prohibited by U.S. sanction regulations from copying and making the open-source source code available online for other people to view”
— prestonvanloon.eth (@preston_vanloon)
September 13, 2022
Tornado Cash, which is built on Ethereum’s blockchain, allows users to conceal their crypto transactions and protect their anonymity through obscuring information trails on blockchain. After the OFAC ban, global regulators began to scrutinize the Ethereum mixer. This led to the arrest of Tornado Cash developers who were accused of laundering money through the platform.
Related: Tornado Cash left an empty space, the time will show what fills it. Chainalysis chief scientist
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Tornado Cash. Many people are now concerned about the legal aspects of writing open-source code. Major crypto companies also opposed the actions of the Treasury Department, with Coinbase deciding to support a lawsuit filed by Tornado Cash users against OFAC.
As reported previously, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Yeterin claimed publicly that he used Tornado cash to give funds to Ukraine in order to protect the financial privacy and confidentiality of the recipients.
