OFAC General License 25: What It Means for Crypto Users and Airdrops
When you hear OFAC General License 25, a U.S. Treasury exception that allows limited transactions with sanctioned crypto projects. It’s not a free pass—it’s a narrow legal loophole that lets you interact with certain blocked tokens without getting fined. This license was created in 2022 after the U.S. government started targeting crypto mixers and exchanges tied to Russia. But it didn’t just affect bad actors. Suddenly, ordinary users could still claim airdrops from projects like Tornado Cash, even if those projects were on the sanctions list.
Crypto sanctions, rules that block U.S. persons from doing business with certain digital assets or addresses are messy. The Treasury doesn’t just blacklist entire coins—it targets specific wallet addresses, smart contracts, and even code repositories. That’s why airdrop compliance, the process of verifying whether a token distribution is legally allowed under OFAC rules became a huge deal. If you claimed a token from a sanctioned contract before the license was issued, you were at risk. After GL25, you could claim it—but only if you didn’t interact with the project after the sanction date. No trading. No staking. Just claiming and moving on.
This license doesn’t protect you from everything. It doesn’t cover new transactions with blocked entities, and it expires in 2026 unless renewed. It also doesn’t apply to exchanges or DeFi platforms that still facilitate trading with sanctioned addresses. That’s why you’ll see posts here about projects like DFY, RADX, or even ancient airdrops like Ancient Kingdom (DOM)—many of them are either dead, unverified, or tied to addresses that could trigger sanctions flags. The real danger isn’t just losing money. It’s accidentally breaking U.S. law by interacting with a token that’s technically banned.
GL25 is a technical detail, but it changes everything for crypto users who care about compliance. It’s why some airdrops disappear overnight, why certain wallets get frozen, and why you can’t just assume every free token is safe. The line between a legitimate airdrop and a sanctioned project is thinner than you think. Below, you’ll find real-world examples of tokens that walked that line—some got caught, others slipped through. You’ll see how regulators track these things, why some exchanges block certain coins, and how to check if your wallet is at risk. This isn’t theory. It’s what’s happening right now in crypto.