US Treasury Delists Tornado Cash, But Coinbase Pushes Back

Crypto News Regulation

US Treasury Delists Tornado Cash, But Coinbase Paul Grewal Says Case Must Go On

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: March 24, 2025

Key Takeaways

The US Treasury removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list after a court decision in the project's favor on March 21;
Paul Grewal says the case should not be dismissed, arguing the government might impose sanctions on Tornado Cash again;
Grewal cites a Supreme Court ruling to support his view that removing restrictions doesn't automatically end a legal case.

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US Treasury Delists Tornado Cash, But Coinbase Paul Grewal Says Case Must Go On

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The US Treasury has removed Tornado Cash from its sanctions list and now says there is no longer a need for the lawsuit about the sanctions to continue.

Following a court decision in Tornado Cash’s favor, the Treasury officially took the project and its related smart contract addresses off the list, according to a March 21 statement.

The department says that the case should be considered over, stating that the issue has been resolved. It argued that courts must review whether they still have the authority to continue with a case when the main issue has been addressed.

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However, Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s $674.48M chief legal officer, stated in a March 23 post on X that the government could not simply drop the case just because it reversed its decision.

Grewal referred to a legal rule that says when a defendant voluntarily stops the behavior being challenged, a case only becomes irrelevant if it is clear the behavior will not happen again.

To support his point, he mentioned a 2024 Supreme Court ruling involving Yonas Fikre, a US citizen who had been added to the No Fly List. The court decided his case was still valid, even though he was removed from the list, because there was no clear promise that it would not happen again.

Grewal said the same applies to Tornado Cash. Although it is no longer on the Treasury’s sanctions list, there is no promise that it will not be added again later. That lack of clarity, he argued, means the case should not be dismissed.

Meanwhile, a UK court denied James Howells’ appeal to search a landfill for his lost hard drive holding 8,000 Bitcoin. What did Howells say about it? Read the full story.