Roman Storm, a key developer behind the Tornado Cash privacy protocol, has posed a vital question to the open source software community regarding their apprehensions over potential retroactive charges from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for creating decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

Storm deliberated with DeFi developers: “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?”

His remarks were set against the backdrop of the DOJ’s possibility of arguing that decentralized, non-custodial services should have been established as custodial, similar to his case. Storm pointed out his recent motion for acquittal filed on September 30, which addressed these issues.

Source: Roman Storm
Translation: Roman Storm has raised concerns over the legal risks facing DeFi developers.

“Our company does not have any ability to affect any change, or take any action, with respect to the Tornado Cash protocol — it is a decentralized software protocol that no one entity or actor can control,” Storm stated in the acquittal documents.

In August, Storm was convicted on one count out of three, with the jury determining he was guilty of conspiratorial conduct related to unlicensed money transmission. This verdict has raised alarms about a dangerous legal precedent for open source software developers and has reverberated throughout the crypto community.

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The Fight for Privacy Continues

Post-verdict, legal experts are considering the likelihood that U.S. prosecutors will pursue money laundering and sanctions charges against Storm in a potential subsequent trial. The jury faced gridlock during deliberations, unable to reach a unanimous decision on these additional charges, ultimately convicting Storm solely on the unlicensed money transmitter charge.

Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant Fund, emphasized, “If the Trump administration wants the USA to be the crypto capital of the world, then the DOJ must not be allowed to retry the two deadlocked charges,” in a tweet.

Matthew Galeotti Source: American Innovation Project
Translation: DOJ official Matthew Galeotti speaks at a summit.

Matthew Galeotti indicated in August that the DOJ would refrain from initiating a retrial for Storm and would not venture into prosecuting analogous cases.

“Our view is that merely writing code, without ill intent, is not a crime,” Galeotti told attendees at the American Innovation Project Summit, emphasizing the importance of clarity for innovators regarding potential criminal repercussions.

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