The U.S. Department of the Treasury acknowledges that mixers have legitimate privacy uses and recommends establishing a safe harbor mechanism to temporarily freeze suspicious assets.

Gate News: On March 9, the U.S. Department of the Treasury acknowledged in a report submitted to Congress that cryptocurrency mixers can be used for legitimate financial privacy purposes. Legitimate users can use mixers to protect sensitive information related to personal wealth, business payments, or charitable donations on public blockchain transactions. This marks a shift in stance since the sanctions against Tornado Cash in 2022. The report distinguishes between custodial and non-custodial mixers. Custodial mixers have been required to register as money services businesses with FinCEN, but no new restrictions were proposed for non-custodial mixers, nor was there a final decision or support for the record-keeping rules proposed by FinCEN in 2023. Instead, it cites the presidential working group’s recommendation that the Treasury consider “next steps” while balancing illegal financial risks and privacy concerns. The report also reveals that North Korean cybercriminals stole at least $2.8 billion in digital assets from January 2024 to September 2025 and routinely used mixers for multi-step money laundering. Since May 2020, over $1.6 billion in deposits from mixer services have flowed into cross-chain bridges, with more than $900 million concentrated on a bridge linked to North Korean money laundering. The Treasury recommends Congress establish a “hold laws” safe harbor mechanism for digital assets, allowing financial institutions to temporarily freeze suspicious assets during short-term investigations, and clarifies AML obligations for DeFi participants. It also proposes adding a “sixth special measure” to the Patriot Act, authorizing the Treasury to impose restrictions on certain digital asset transfers.