Glossary
OFAC
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control — issues sanctions designations and the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Notable in crypto for sanctioning Tornado Cash.
OFAC administers US economic and trade sanctions. Anyone subject to US jurisdiction is prohibited from transacting with designated persons, entities, or property on the SDN list.
OFAC has applied the same authority to crypto: sanctioning Bitcoin addresses tied to ransomware, the Lazarus Group, and most controversially in August 2022 the Tornado Cash smart contracts themselves. The SDN-screening burden falls on every regulated US on-ramp, off-ramp, and intermediary.