The US Department of the Treasury issued a clarification on this matter, allowing users to withdraw digital assets from addresses affiliated with the Tornado Cash mixer. The user must apply for an appropriate license from OFAC.
“For Tornado Cash related transactions started before inclusion [сервиса] to the list on August 8, 2022, but not completed by that date, US persons, or persons carrying out transactions within US jurisdiction, may request a special license from OFAC to conduct virtual currency transactions,” the regulator said.
To obtain permission to withdraw assets, the user must provide information about transactions related to them. In particular, in a special form, it is required to indicate the addresses of the sender’s and recipient’s wallets, the transfer amount, transaction hashes, as well as the date and time of their execution.
OFAC added that it plans to “pursue a favorable policy regarding such requests” if the transactions in question do not involve “other sanctions actions.” Carrying out such transactions without a license is a violation.
The regulator also noted cases when users without a request sent insignificant amounts of funds from addresses affiliated with the mixer:
“Formally, the provisions of OFAC apply to these operations. However, to the extent that these dust transactions have no sanction links other than Tornado Cash, OFAC will not prioritize enforcement.”
The FDA also explained that, despite the blocking of the Tornado Cash website and the inclusion of addresses associated with it in the sanctions lists, “interaction with open source in itself […] not prohibited”, if it is not about illegal transactions.
