Privacy Protection Agreement Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm asked the open-source software community whether they are concerned about being retroactively prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for developing decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Storm asked DeFi developers: "How can you be so sure that the DOJ won't prosecute you for developing non-custodial protocols under the guise of money service business?"
Storm added that the DOJ might file a lawsuit arguing that any decentralized non-custodial service should be developed as a custodial service, just as was done in his case. He cited a recent motion for acquittal submitted on September 30.
"Our company has no ability to influence any changes or take any action regarding the Tornado Cash protocol—it is a decentralized software protocol that no single entity or participant can control," Storm's words were quoted in the acquittal document.
Storm was convicted in August on one of three charges; the jury found him guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business, setting a dangerous legal precedent for open-source software developers and causing a stir in the crypto community.
After the verdict, legal experts debated whether U.S. prosecutors would bring money laundering and sanctions charges against Storm in another trial.
The jury was deadlocked during deliberations and failed to reach a consensus on those charges, only finding Storm guilty on the unlicensed money transmitter charge.
Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer of venture capital firm Variant Fund, wrote on X at the time: "If the Trump administration wants the U.S. to be the world capital of cryptocurrency, then the DOJ cannot be allowed to retry these two deadlocked charges."
Matthew Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ's Criminal Division, stated in August that the DOJ would not initiate a retrial against Storm nor prosecute similar cases.
"Our view is that merely writing code, without malicious intent, does not constitute a crime," Galeotti told the audience at the U.S. Innovation Project Summit, an event advocating for and supporting cryptocurrency legislation.
"The DOJ will not use indictments as a legislative tool. The DOJ should not make innovators guess what might lead to criminal prosecution," he added.
Related: Senior member of the Ethereum (ETH) Foundation Dankrad Feist joins Stripe's Tempo team
Original article: “Roman Storm Warns: DeFi Developers May Face Retroactive Prosecution Risks”
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