A debate on the legal safety of decentralized finance (DeFi) developers has been sparked by Roman Storm, a contributor to the Tornado Cash project.
He is questioning if creators of DeFi software can genuinely feel protected from potential legal action initiated by authorities in the United States.
This inquiry stems from his personal experiences and the ongoing legal challenges he faces.
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In a recent social media post, Storm questioned how developers can guarantee they won’t be viewed as money transmitters by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) when creating systems lacking control over user funds and functioning without intermediaries.
He cautioned that authorities may still contend these platforms should possess built-in custodial features, despite being designed to operate autonomously.
Storm highlighted the DOJ’s approach in his own case. According to a legal document submitted on September 30, he asserted that Tornado Cash was intended as a decentralized instrument, independent of any single entity’s influence.
He emphasized that after deployment, his team could not control, modify, or interfere with the protocol.
Last August, a jury convicted Storm of conspiring to run an unauthorized money transfer service. This determination has caused anxieties among numerous developers, raising concerns that contributing code to open-source finance projects could be interpreted as a criminal offense.
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recently negotiated with the DOJ on potentially modifying terms of a 2023 agreement. What was the topic of discussion? Read the details here.