Bitcoin Magazine
U.S. Treasury Recognizes Legitimate Uses for Crypto Mixers, Proposes “Hold Law” for Suspicious Assets
The U.S. Treasury Department told Congress that bitcoin or crypto mixers can serve legitimate financial privacy purposes, signaling a shift in the government’s approach to blockchain privacy tools.
The 32-page report, submitted under the GENIUS Act, also proposes new legislative tools to combat illicit finance, including a “hold law” that would give financial institutions temporary safe harbor to freeze suspicious digital assets.
The report acknowledges that lawful users may employ mixers to protect sensitive information on personal wealth, business payments, or charitable donations.
This represents a recalibration from Treasury’s earlier stance, which included sanctioning Tornado Cash in 2022 and designating international mixers as money-laundering hubs in 2023.
At the same time, Treasury data shows that criminal actors, particularly those linked to North Korea, continue to exploit mixers.
The report cites DPRK-affiliated cybercriminals who stole at least $2.8 billion in digital assets between January 2024 and September 2025, including a $1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange.
In these operations, mixers are commonly used to break tracing links, often in combination with stablecoin swaps and cross-chain bridges.
JUST IN: US Treasury reports to Congress that using Bitcoin and crypto privacy mixers are NOT unlawful:”Lawful users of digital assets may leverage mixers to enable financial privacy when transacting through public blockchains.”Big win for privacy! pic.twitter.com/l4kAMCAlhI— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 9, 2026
New data on crypto laundering
The report provides original Treasury analysis of mixing activity involving stablecoins and bridges.
Since May 2020, more than $37.4 billion in withdrawals from over 50 bridges were denominated in the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization. Of that total, approximately $1.6 billion flowed from mixing services, with over $900 million concentrated in a single bridge scrutinized for DPRK-linked activity.
The Treasury noted in the report that direct stablecoin deposits into crypto mixers for illicit purposes are relatively low, but criminals frequently convert other digital assets through mixers before swapping into stablecoins to obscure the source.
The report distinguishes between custodial and non-custodial crypto mixers. Custodial services, which must register with FinCEN as money services businesses, can provide identity data, off-chain transaction information, and behavioral patterns.
The Treasury does not recommend new restrictions on non-custodial mixers and refrains from finalizing FinCEN’s 2023 proposed recordkeeping rule, instead citing a 2025 Presidential Working Group report recommending careful evaluation of privacy and illicit finance risks.
‘Hold law’ to crack down on ill
