The CEO of Kraken crypto exchange, Jesse Powell, has accused the US authorities of sanctioning the Tornado cash platform hastily. His accusation was after regulators accused the ETH mixing provider of aiding criminals in laundering customers’ funds.
Jesse Powell Disapproves Of Regulators’ Hasty Judgement
The Treasury Dept recently banned the Tornado Cash network from accepting or engaging in any crypto transaction with other firms or customers.
Following the unfavorable ban on the crypto exchange, many institutions and investors have disapproved of the action. In a recent interview, Powell claimed that the government’s ban on Tornado cash was too quick.
The CEO likened it to a knee-jerk reaction which they took without thoroughly thinking the situation through. Furthermore, Powell reportedly described Tornado cash’s services as freedom of speech.
He then asked if the sanction would can through a constitutional challenge during the interview. Powell continued that the whole situation is clear that the regulators are too hasty in sanctioning Tornado cash. He added that despite the regulators trying to protect the people’s interest, they are overdoing it.
Kraken Obeys Sanctions Order Despite Showing Disapproval
Even though the CEO disapproved of the banning, he said his company would comply with the government’s directives. To that effect, Kraken has stopped all withdrawals from addresses associated with the Tornado cash.
The firm also plans to freeze all funds from any address associated with the crypto platform. Powell pointed out that the government has deprived users of their privacy rights by sanctioning Tornado.
Jesse Powell expressed his points shortly after the US Treasury department announced the sanction on the 16th of August. According to the announcement, the department accused Tornado of being incapable of taking effective anti-laundering measures.
They also claimed that the crypto platform aided and abetted many frauds by offering untraceable transaction services to criminals. They based their allegations on the report from an analytic firm that claimed Tornado received about 75% of theft funds on ETH.
Tornado Community Reacted To The Arrest Of A Developer
Shortly after the sanction, Netherlands regulators arrested a suspected Tornado cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, on August 12. The arrest has caused uproar in the network, as many claimed the action was unfair.
They questioned why Do Kwon, the CEO of the failed Terra network, was still roaming free while they arrested the innocent developer. The fall of Terra has resulted in many public and court allegations against Do Kwon.
Despite many accusations against him, he still roams tee living his life. It is notable that the fall of Terra also fueled the dishing out of harsh judgment to Tornado cash to protect customers from such occurrence again.