U.S. authorities recognized the right of cryptocurrency mixer users to privacy.
The U.S. Treasury sent a report to Congress, acknowledging the legality of using cryptocurrency mixers to protect financial privacy.
In 2022 and 2023, the agency referred to mixers as centers for money laundering and imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash. Now, the ministry has noted that law-abiding users need these platforms to hide information about personal savings, business payments, or donations.
The criminal use of such services remains a problem. According to the Ministry of Finance, from January 2024 to September 2025, hackers linked to North Korea stole cryptocurrency worth $2.8 billion. Of this, $1.5 billion was due to the hacking of the Bybit exchange. Malefactors regularly use mixers to obfuscate their tracks.
Connection with stablecoins and bridges
The agency analyzed the interaction of mixers, "stablecoins," and cross-chain bridges for the first time.
Since May 2020, users have withdrawn more than $37.4 billion in the two largest stablecoins through 50 different bridges. During the same period, about $1.6 billion flowed from mixers to these platforms, with over $900 million of that amount passing through one service popular with North Korean hackers.
Malefactors rarely introduce fiat-linked tokens directly into the mixer. They usually send other assets there. At the exit, criminals exchange coins for stablecoins to break the transaction chain before converting to fiat.
Regulation and types of mixers
The document divides custodial and non-custodial services. The former are required to register with FinCEN. They can provide authorities with data on clients and their transactions.
For the second category of platforms, the Ministry of Finance did not recommend new restrictions. The regulator continues to seek a balance between the risks of illegal financing and citizens' rights to privacy.
Initiatives of the Ministry of Finance
The agency asked Congress to pass several new laws. The Ministry of Finance proposes:
introduce the right to freeze. Financial institutions will be able to temporarily block suspicious crypto assets during the investigation;
clarify the rules for DeFi. Congress must determine which market participants in decentralized finance fall under AML requirements;
«the sixth special measure» to the US law on combating terrorism. The Ministry of Finance wants to gain the authority to block cryptocurrency transfers outside correspondent banking relationships.
Easing the authorities' stance
The report was released against the backdrop of changing state policy in the field of crypto-privacy. In March 2025, the Ministry of Finance lifted sanctions against Tornado Cash by court decision. In August, the co-founder of the service, Roman Shtorm, was found guilty of operating without a license, but the jury could not reach a verdict on money laundering charges.
Later, Matthew Galeotti from the US Department of Justice stated that the agency would stop pursuing developers of DeFi applications under the article on managing unlicensed money transfer businesses.
Recall that in January 2026, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden introduced a bill exempting programmers and providers of non-custodial services from the need to obtain money transmission operator licenses.
@Fabric Foundation #robo $ROBO
