In the Biden era and prior, cryptocurrencies were not a sector taken seriously by US authorities. During the FTX collapse, political anger and tacit negative approaches turned into explicit legal attacks. Today, a new development has emerged that pleases crypto investors and former participants in this field. The US Department of Justice will no longer pursue developers.
US Department of Justice and Cryptocurrencies
Matthew Galeotti, Assistant Chief Counsel of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, announced today that they will reject similar accusations in the future, just a few weeks after a Tornado Cash developer was convicted.
“If evidence shows that the software is truly decentralized and merely automates peer-to-peer transactions without any third party having custody or control over user assets, new charges against a third party will not be approved.
If criminal intent exists, other charges may be appropriate.”
Speaking at the American Innovation Project Summit in Wyoming, the official delivered a clear message that the fundamental story/philosophy of cryptocurrencies—privacy, peer-to-peer automated transactions-payments—will be respected.
Freedom for Open-Source Software
When a developer launches a cryptocurrency protocol or a standard web-based software as open-source, other developers can support this application without knowing the identity of the initial creator, allowing the community to develop it openly. Tornado Cash was such a project.
Moreover, Tornado was developed solely to address individuals’ privacy concerns in transactions. However, scammers used it for illicit purposes, such as laundering criminal proceeds, which was not the developers’ fault, including Roman Storm. Yet, he was found guilty, and weeks later, a representative from the Department of Justice stated, “Sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Amanda Tuminelli, the executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, stated:
“The Department of Justice acknowledging that software developers should not be held accountable for third parties misusing their code confirms what we have been advocating for years.”
Although belated, it is significant for the Department of Justice to gain this perspective, which broadens developers’ areas of freedom. Of course, this is relevant only to completely decentralized protocols and applications. Those intentionally creating crime tools, such as protocols used for phishing or other malicious purposes, will face consequences, anonymous or not.
