Roman Storm asks DeFi devs: Can you be sure DOJ won't charge you?

Roman Storm, a developer of the Tornado Cash privacy protocol, raised concerns within the open-source community regarding potential retroactive prosecution by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for creating decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. Storm, citing his recent motion for acquittal, questioned how developers of non-custodial protocols can be certain they won't be charged as money service businesses, referencing the DOJ's argument in his case that decentralized services should have been custodial. Storm was convicted in August on one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business, setting a potentially dangerous precedent. Although the jury deadlocked on money laundering and sanctions charges, leading to speculation about a retrial, Matthew Galeotti, acting assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s criminal division, indicated in August that the DOJ would not pursue a retrial for Storm on the deadlocked counts, stating that "merely writing code, without ill intent, is not a crime."

(Source：Cointelegraph)