According to the source, ShapeShift agreed to a $750,000 settlement related to U.S. sanctions violations, underscoring ongoing regulatory scrutiny on crypto exchange compliance; source: X post dated 2025-09-23. This development fits a continuing OFAC enforcement pattern that previously saw settlements with Kraken for $362,158 in 2022, Bittrex for $24.3 million in 2022, and BitPay for $507,375 in 2021; sources: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control press releases dated 2022-11-28, 2022-10-11, and 2021-02-18. Trading takeaway: headline risk around sanctions compliance can influence exchange-related assets and liquidity conditions, so monitor market depth, spreads, and funding rates around regulatory announcements; source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC enforcement history cited above.

According to the source, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Iranian actors tied to more than $100 million in illicit oil sales facilitated with cryptocurrency, signaling heightened enforcement against crypto-enabled sanctions evasion (source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control). Traders should immediately review the latest OFAC SDN list updates and any newly identified wallet addresses to avoid tainted-flow exposure that could trigger account restrictions or asset blocks on U.S.-linked venues (source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC Sanctions Compliance Guidance). Historical precedent shows rapid compliance responses such as address blacklisting by stablecoin issuers and exchanges after OFAC designations, implying near-term counterparty and liquidity risk for affected on-chain paths (source: Circle compliance update following OFAC’s Tornado Cash designation; U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC). Non-U.S. intermediaries that facilitate significant transactions with designated parties face secondary sanctions risk, increasing off-ramp friction and settlement delays for flows touching Iran-linked networks (source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, OFAC Iran sanctions program guidance).

According to @1HowardWu, vilifying all crypto privacy technology because of Tornado Cash harms the ecosystem and the U.S. should pursue compliant privacy solutions instead of blanket prohibitions, positioning this as critical for American leadership in crypto (source: X post by @1HowardWu on Sep 1, 2025, https://twitter.com/1HowardWu/status/1962508745591882103). OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022 for facilitating laundering of more than $7 billion, including funds tied to the DPRK-linked Lazarus Group, prompting U.S. platforms to restrict interactions with the Ethereum (ETH) mixer and tighten compliance controls (source: U.S. Treasury OFAC press release JY0916, Aug 8, 2022, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0916). Following the designation, mixer inflows declined while sanctioned actors sought alternative obfuscation methods, evidencing regulatory pressure on privacy tooling that influences on-chain liquidity routes traders rely on (source: Chainalysis analysis of mixer activity post-OFAC designation, 2023, https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/tornado-cash-sanctions-mixers/). U.S. Treasury’s 2023 DeFi Illicit Finance Risk Assessment prioritizes closing AML/KYC gaps in DeFi and VASPs; traders should monitor policy moves shaping availability of compliant zero-knowledge and privacy solutions on U.S.-regulated venues that affect ETH DeFi flows and privacy-coin market access (source: U.S. Treasury, Illicit Finance Risk Assessment of Decentralized Finance, April 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/DeFi-Risk-Assessment.pdf; X post by @1HowardWu on Sep 1, 2025, https://twitter.com/1HowardWu/status/1962508745591882103).

According to Crypto Rover, the U.S. Treasury has removed Tornado Cash from the OFAC sanctions list, allowing U.S. individuals to legally engage with the platform. This could lead to increased trading activity for Tornado Cash, as regulatory barriers are lifted, making it more accessible to U.S. traders and investors. Traders should monitor market reactions and potential shifts in liquidity as this development unfolds.

According to @EleanorTerrett, the U.S. Treasury has removed Tornado Cash from its OFAC sanctions list, marking a significant win for decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. This decision is expected to enhance liquidity and trading volumes in the DeFi sector, as Tornado Cash's prior blacklisting had restricted its use for privacy-centric transactions. Traders and investors may see this as an opportunity for increased DeFi adoption and a positive impact on market dynamics.

According to MistTrack, since the OFAC sanctions in April 2022, Garantex has adapted its hot wallet management to sustain operations. Initially, hot wallets were rotated approximately quarterly from April 2022 to December 2022. The frequency increased to weekly rotations from December 2022 to February 2023. From February 2023 onwards, Garantex has continued to adjust its hot wallet rotation strategy, although the specific frequency post-February 2023 was not detailed in the tweet.