Crypto Group Urges Trump to Halt Prosecution of Cryptocurrency Developers

A crypto lobbying organization called the DeFi Education Fund has appealed to the Trump administration to halt what they described as "unlawful persecution" targeting open-source software developers such as Roman Storm, who developed the cryptocurrency mixer known as Tornado Cash.

In an April 28 letter to White House cryptocurrency tsar David Sacks , the group urged President Donald Trump “to take immediate action to discontinue the Biden-era Department of Justice's lawless campaign to criminalize open-source software development.”

The letter particularly highlighted the prosecution of Storm. who was charged In August 2023, he assisted in laundering more than $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency via Tornado Cash. His trial is currently underway. still set for July , and his fellow cofounder who was also charged, Roman Semenov, remains at large and is thought to be in Russia.

The DeFi Education Fund stated that in Storm’s situation, the Department of Justice is trying to hold them accountable. software developers legally responsible for how others utilize their code, which is "both illogical in theory and could potentially discourage all cryptocurrency development within the United States."

The organization additionally urged acknowledgment that the prosecution conflicts with the guidelines issued during Trump's initial term by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN). These guidelines clarified that creators of self-managed, person-to-person protocols are not considered money transmitters.

This type of legal setting doesn’t merely dampen innovation—it brings it to a standstill," they contended. The missive further stated that such conditions "also embolden politically motivated prosecutions and places every open-source developer in danger, irrespective of their sector.

In January, a federal court located in Texas determined that the Treasury overstepped its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash.

The stakes couldn't be greater.

The team expressed their gratitude to Trump for backing the industry and his aim to transform America into the "global hub for cryptocurrencies."

However, they also noted that his objective cannot be achieved if those who create the necessary tools are penalized for their involvement in developing such technologies.

We urge President Trump to safeguard American software developers, reinstate legal clarity, and put an end to this unauthorized DOJ expansion. The task remains incomplete, with the implications being more significant than ever.

Related: The developer of Tornado Cash seeks to have charges dismissed following the court's statement that OFAC had 'gone too far.'

The general counsel of Variant Fund, Jake Chervinsky, said The Justice Department’s lawsuit against Storm is "a relic from the Biden administration's battle against cryptocurrency."

"There is neither legal nor policy-based rationale for prosecuting software developers who introduce non-custodial smart contract protocols," he stated additionally.

When this was written, the petition had garnered 232 signatures from leaders in the industry and developers, such as Fred Ehrsam, who co-founded Coinbase, Matt Huang, a co-founder of Paradigm, and Tim Beiko, an essential member of the Ethereum development team, along with many others.

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