Roman Storm, a developer behind the privacy-focused Tornado Cash protocol, raised a pivotal question to the open source community regarding the possible consequences of developing decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. He queried, “How can you be so sure you won’t be charged by the DOJ as a money service business for building a non-custodial protocol?”

The DOJ may argue that decentralized, non-custodial services should have been developed with custodial frameworks, as demonstrated in Storm’s own legal situation. Recently, he filed a motion for acquittal after his conviction on one charge for allegedly operating an unlicensed money transmission business.

Roman Storm
Source: Roman Storm

Storm emphasized that his company lacks control over the Tornado Cash protocol, describing it as a decentralized system.

In August, he faced a conviction on one count, establishing a troubling precedent for open-source software developers and instigating unease within the crypto environment.

The Need for Continued Privacy Advocacy

Legal discussions following his trial have questioned whether the DOJ would pursue further charges. The jury had conflicting opinions on those counts, ultimately convicting him of being an unlicensed money transmitter.

Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer at Variant Fund, remarked that if the U.S. aims to lead in crypto innovation, the DOJ should refrain from retrying the charges on which the jury could not agree.

Matthew Galeotti from the DOJ indicated previously that they do not intend to retry Storm or meaningful cases like his. He stated, “Our view is that merely writing code, without ill intent, is not a crime,” suggesting a more lenient approach toward coding practices in the crypto domain.

Further Reading: Can privacy survive in US crypto policy after Roman Storm’s conviction?