SEALED
On 8 August 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tornado Cash, an Ethereum cryptocurrency mixer designed to obscure links between transactions. The action placed a privacy tool at the centre of a confrontation over illicit finance and government power.
Treasury said the service had been used to launder cryptocurrency stolen by cybercriminals, including more than $455 million taken by the North Korean Lazarus Group. It also cited funds from the Harmony Bridge and Nomad heists, arguing that Tornado Cash had failed to implement effective controls against abuse.
The designation blocked covered property under U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibited U.S. persons from transactions involving it, subject to exemptions or OFAC authorization. It was a sanctions action, not a physical seizure of the technology.
Privacy advocates challenged its breadth. Coin Center argued that sanctioning autonomous smart contracts targeted a neutral tool rather than a particular wrongdoer, restricting people seeking privacy for lawful reasons. The dispute exposed a difficult question: how should authorities confront criminal use without treating every user as a suspect?
On 21 March 2025, Treasury announced the removal of the sanctions after reviewing legal and policy issues. This card records the 2022 action, not the current legal position. Its bottled storm and wax seal turn attempted containment into a visual metaphor.
Sources & the artist’s interpretation
Sources: U.S. Treasury, 8 August 2022 ; Coin Center, contemporaneous response ; U.S. Treasury, 21 March 2025 . The official, bottle, seal, office and papers are fictional symbols. SEALED is an approved editorial caption, not a historical quotation. This chapter dates the original 2022 designation; Treasury announced delisting in 2025.
