U.S. Department of Justice Policy Shift: Decentralization Software Developers Will Be Exempt from Certain Criminal Liability

On August 22, according to Decrypt, a senior official from the U.S. Department of Justice stated on Thursday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to a group of lobbying leaders in the encryption industry that the U.S. government will no longer prosecute decentralized software developers for specific offenses. Just earlier this month, federal prosecutors successfully convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm on this charge. The charge stems from Section 1960(b)(1)(C) of the U.S. Code, which states that any operator of an unauthorized money transmission business is in violation of the law if they engage with funds known to originate from crime or intended for illegal activities. Just weeks ago, a Manhattan jury found Storm guilty of violating this law, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on all other charges. At today's Jackson Hole policy summit, Matthew Galeotti, acting head of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, made it clear to the attending encryption industry leaders and lobbyists that federal prosecutors will no longer apply the 1960(b)(1)(C) charge against decentralized software developers.