On April 28, the DeFi Education Fund, a crypto advocacy group, sent a letter to White House crypto adviser David Sacks.
The group called on President Donald Trump to end the Department of Justice’s efforts to charge open-source developers under laws meant for financial crimes.
They focused on the case of Roman Storm, a developer who helped create Tornado Cash, a tool used for mixing cryptocurrency transactions. Storm was charged in August 2023 with allegedly helping criminals move over $1 billion in digital funds. His trial is scheduled for July.
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In the letter, the DeFi Education Fund said that holding developers responsible for what others do with their code is unreasonable and could harm innovation across the crypto industry.
They also pointed out that during President Trump’s first term, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance that developers building non-custodial, peer-to-peer tools were not considered money transmitters. The group argues that continuing to prosecute Storm goes against that earlier guidance.
According to the letter, letting these prosecutions advance would create a dangerous situation where developers could be punished for writing code, even if they have no control over how it is used. They said it would not only slow down innovation but could completely freeze new development in the United States.
The letter closed by urging President Trump to defend American developers, clarify the law, and stop what the group described as an overreach by the Department of Justice.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently said it would not pursue its case against Richard Heart. How did Heart respond? Read the full story.
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