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).