Coinbase Backs Suit to Lift US Sanctions on Tornado Cash (1)

Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest US cryptocurrency exchange, has helped organize and is paying the costs of a lawsuit against the Treasury Department over its sanctions of coin mixer Tornado Cash.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by six individuals including two Coinbase employees, claims Treasury overstepped its authority to block financial transactions benefiting foreign terrorists. It alleges that the department, perhaps unintentionally, ensnared law-abiding Americans conducting legitimate digital commerce through a cryptocurrency service that offers enhanced privacy and security.

“None of the plaintiffs is a terrorist or a criminal,” lawyers for the Tornado Cash customers said in the complaint, filed ...