Following the echoes of the high profile case of Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm, the U.S. Justice Department said that it does not target software developers that create decentralized platforms for transmitting cryptocurrencies without criminal intent.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the DOJ’s criminal division said during the American Innovation Project Summit in Jackson, Wyoming, that the department will move away from bringing charges over failure to register as a money transmitter business. He said, “Our view is that merely writing code, without ill intent, is not a crime.”
Money transmitters, such as Western Union, and payment apps like Venmo, need to be licensed and follow certain rules for vetting customers and reporting suspicious activity to prevent money laundering. Such rules have become a flashpoint for the crypto sector, especially for decentralized exchanges, which often say they have no visibility or oversight over transactions on their platforms.
This latest announcement comes with the disbanding of the DOJ’s national cryptocurrency enforcement team, a decision that reflects the broader regulatory shift toward a more accommodating environment for digital assets.
Echos After Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm
Earlier in July, a jury found the co-founder of Tornado Cash, a firm that makes cryptocurrency transactions harder to track, guilty of a conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Anti-corruption advocates say such firms make it easier to launder illicit funds.
In his defense, Roman said that he merely created the computer code. The jury in the case deadlocked over whether he was guilty of money laundering and sanctions evasion.
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