Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) has bankrolled a lawsuit filed Thursday against the U.S. Treasury Department over its sanctions of crypto mixer Tornado Cash. The suit was filed in federal court in Texas by six people including two Coinbase (COIN) employees and four other users of the mixing service, which was allegedly used to launder over $7B worth of virtual currency since 2019 by North Korean Hackers. The plaintiffs in the case argued that the sanctions violate their first amendment right of free speech, as well as their fifth amendment due-process rights by suspending their digital assets inside of Tornado. Coinbase (COIN) has been in favor of overturning the sanctions against Tornado since they were imposed in the beginning of August. For instance, Brian Armstrong, the company's CEO and co-founder, claimed that the Treasury overstepped its authority by sanctioning a technology instead of a person or entity. He wrote in a recent Twitter post, saying "Sanctioning a technology (as opposed to an individual or entity) seems like a bad precedent to me, and it should probably be challenged. Could have many downstream unintended consequences."Previously, (Aug. 24) stablecoin issuer Tether shrugs off Tornado Cash sanctions, won't freeze addresses.
