U.S. Treasury: ‘Crypto mixers can also be used for legitimate financial privacy purposes’

The U.S. Treasury Department has formally acknowledged that virtual asset (cryptocurrency) mixers can be used for illicit money laundering, but can also serve legitimate purposes such as protecting financial privacy.

According to Cointelegraph on the 8th (local time), the Treasury said in a recent report submitted to Congress that “legitimate virtual asset users may use mixers to ensure financial privacy when transacting on public blockchains.” It said mixers can be used to protect sensitive financial information, such as the size of an individual’s holdings, corporate payment details, and donation records.

The assessment is seen as somewhat softer than its previous stance, including sanctioning Tornado Cash in 2022 and labeling international mixing services as money-laundering hubs in 2023.

The Treasury, however, underscored that mixing services are still being used to launder criminal proceeds. The report said North Korean hacking groups stole at least $2.8 billion in virtual assets between January 2024 and September 2025, with mixing services used as part of the laundering pipeline.

The report also analyzed fund flows among mixers, stablecoins and cross-chain bridges, noting that criminal groups make tracing more difficult by first mixing other virtual assets and then swapping them into stablecoins. While custodial mixers are required to register as money services businesses, it did not offer new regulatory recommendations for non-custodial mixers.