The leaks · 79 / 127 · 2 min

A freeze list

A government list, an issuer, or a relay can refuse a transaction. This page names that power. It is not a guide to hiding from it.

A worked case

A protocol's website goes dark after a sanctions listing. People say the chain was switched off. The website was. A freeze key on a token is a different fact, and it belongs to the issuer. Neither fact is a set of instructions.

Who can refuse

A stablecoin issuer can freeze an address. A relay can decline to order a transaction. A website in front of a protocol can be switched off. The code on a chain is a different object from the website.

What this is not

Do not use this page to launder money or to route around a sanction. The check is only: who can stop this transfer, and is that person named.

The website went dark

In August 2022 the US Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash. The public website became unusable. Some infrastructure that ordered transactions treated the addresses as something to refuse. None of that is a lesson in how to move coins through a mixer. This school does not teach that.

The useful distinction is the object. A website can be switched off by the people who host it. A freeze key belongs to an issuer. A relay can decline to include a transaction. The chain's record is a fourth thing. Name which one you are looking at.

Read it yourself

• Tornado Cash

These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.

Apply the check

Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.

Check yourself

Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.