{"id":16127,"date":"2026-03-09T08:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=16127"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:56:15","slug":"us-treasury-u-turns-on-privacy-as-turmoil-drives-demand-for-censorship-resistant-crypto-analyst-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/us-treasury-u-turns-on-privacy-as-turmoil-drives-demand-for-censorship-resistant-crypto-analyst-says\/","title":{"rendered":"US Treasury U-Turns on Privacy As Turmoil Drives Demand for Censorship-Resistant Crypto, Analyst Says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>They don&#8217;t want you to have any financial privacy, so is this softening of their position, or a distraction why they pass a terrible version of the Clarity Act? And <a href=\"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/13\/voting-for-monetary-slavery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tony Yazbeck<\/a> has some good perspectives on what they&#8217;d like to get done with this bill. And worth pointing out that Tony retired in Lebanon after an IT career, and was completely wiped out by their banking crash, ending up broke and homeless. So he warns everyone about what will spread throughout the world of overly indebted nations playing monetary games&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Don\u2019t Fall for the Clarity Act Propaganda! | A Message from Tony\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MTNqZSilIjU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/us-treasury-u-turns-privacy-111804002.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/us-treasury-u-turns-privacy-111804002.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ub-divider ub_divider ub-divider-orientation-horizontal\" id=\"ub_divider_4aeba9d1-b322-42aa-9850-6baa68b0d9ac\"><div class=\"ub_divider_wrapper\" style=\"position: relative; margin-bottom: 2px; width: 100%; height: 2px; \" data-divider-alignment=\"center\"><div class=\"ub_divider_line\" style=\"border-top: 2px solid #ccc; margin-top: 2px; \"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/YnLcPwje.0P.ggYqCEjM.Q--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/dlnews_702\/b868ec1df59f5acab879bf5751eb5436\" alt=\"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has advocated for crypto on many occasions. Credit: Shutterstock \/ Maxim Elramsisy.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has advocated for crypto on many occasions. Credit: Shutterstock \/ Maxim Elramsisy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By Lance Datskoluo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Macroeconomic and political stress are driving investors toward censorship-resistant crypto assets, according to Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kennis told <em>DL News <\/em>that three key forces are converging to turn privacy from a speculative corner of crypto into a durable institutional theme: political tension, regulatory tightening, and the maturation of zero-knowledge technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crypto privacy tools have evolved from \u201cexperimental to deployable\u201d because ZK technology has significantly matured, as institutions like venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz have described it as crypto\u2019s \u201cmost important moat,\u201d Kennis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kennis\u2019s call comes as the US Treasury Department acknowledged in a new March report that crypto privacy tools such as token mixers that mask transactions and identities can serve \u201clegitimate financial privacy purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLawful users of digital assets may leverage mixers to enable financial privacy when transacting through public blockchains,\u201d the report told Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The language marks a notable recalibration in tone and is the latest signal of the Trump administration\u2019s relaxing attitude toward the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In August, the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/defi\/prosecutors-ask-to-uphold-conviction-of-tornado-cash-dev\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> it would stop aggressively pursuing future charges against developers building privacy-focused crypto tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Privacy performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Privacy-focused crypto tokens had a stellar run in 2025 before sinking alongside crypto\u2019s $2 trillion wipeout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zcash soared nearly 2,000% from August to September. Then the core development team quit, and the price <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/markets\/zcash-sinks-20-percent-after-core-developer-team-quits\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">crashed<\/a> by over 65%. Monero had a similar meteoric rise and fall, reaching a new all-time high of nearly $800 in January before plunging back under $300.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, Kennis said there are plenty of privacy-focused crypto projects in investors\u2019 crosshairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCapital is flowing to projects like Railgun, Nocturne, Zama, Aleo, and Nillion, targeting compliant privacy for tokenization, payments, trade finance, and custody rather than just the most liquid privacy coins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is a large playing field here for this sector and a path to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Treasury does not gloss over the risks associated with private crypto transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its report discloses that billions in digital assets stolen by North Korean actors between early 2024 and late 2025 flowed through complex laundering chains that often included transaction mixing services, which shield users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since mid-2020, more than $1.6 billion in deposits from mixers has moved into crypto bridges, with a substantial concentration tied to a single bridge that was scrutinised for failing to intervene in swaps linked to sanctioned actors, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Treasury also highlights the interactions among mixers, stablecoins, and cross-chain infrastructure. While direct deposits of stablecoins into mixers for illicit purposes appear low, the Treasury notes that criminal actors frequently route other tokens through mixers before converting into stablecoins to break tracing links prior to fiat off-ramps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding to the pressure on privacy, lawmakers in the European Union have approved legislation that will prohibit crypto exchanges from listing privacy-focused tokens such as Zcash and Monero, citing concerns about anti-money-laundering. The measure is scheduled to take effect in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, regulators across the US and Europe have intensified enforcement actions against developers of privacy-focused tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Netherlands, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/defi\/tornado-cash-dev-roman-storm-asks-judge-to-toss-conviction\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted<\/a> of money laundering in 2024 after prosecutors argued his software enabled criminals to obscure stolen cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities in the US have pursued similar cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/defi\/prosecutors-ask-to-uphold-conviction-of-tornado-cash-dev\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">found<\/a> guilty of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, while Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/?q=tornado+cash\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">received<\/a> the maximum five-year prison sentence on comparable charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They don&#8217;t want you to have any financial privacy, so is this softening of their position, or a distraction why they pass a terrible version of the Clarity Act? And Tony Yazbeck has some good perspectives on what they&#8217;d like to get done with this bill. And worth pointing out that Tony retired in Lebanon [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16132,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16127\/revisions\/16132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}