{"id":43670,"date":"2025-08-22T23:01:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=43670"},"modified":"2025-08-22T23:01:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:01:50","slug":"doj-makes-it-clear-writing-defi-code-wont-land-you-in-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=43670","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Makes It Clear: Writing Defi Code Won\u2019t Land You In Jail"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In a major policy shift, federal prosecutors are changing how they approach decentralized finance, or Defi.<\/p>\n

After years of uncertainty around liability for coders and software developers, officials are now drawing a clear line between creating technology and committing a crime.<\/p>\n

The US Justice Department has announced it will no longer target software developers who build Defi platforms without proof of criminal intent.<\/p>\n

Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti made the remarks Thursday during a digital assets summit<\/a> in Wyoming. He said that writing code alone does not constitute a crime.<\/p>\n

This signals a significant change from earlier enforcement strategies where prosecutors charged developers for operating unlicensed money transmission businesses.<\/p>\n

Debate Over Money Transmission Rules<\/h2>\n

Regulators have long applied stringent rules to companies in the money remittance business, but the rise of Defi systems is putting those standards to the test.<\/p>\n

Traditional payment platforms face clear obligations, while DeFi projects say those same rules don\u2019t make sense in a code-driven environment.<\/p>\n

Money transmitters such as PayPal and Cash App must secure licenses and comply with anti-money laundering obligations. They also have to verify customers and report suspicious transactions.<\/p>\n

But decentralized exchanges argue these rules don\u2019t fit their model since they have no control over user activity on their platforms.<\/p>\n

\n

NEW: US DOJ\u2019S ACTING AAG MATTHEW GALEOTTI SAYS \u201cOUR VIEW IS THAT MERELY WRITING CODE, WITHOUT ILL INTENT, IS NOT A CRIME. INNOVATING NEW WAYS FOR THE ECONOMY TO STORE AND TRANSMIT VALUE AND CREATE WEALTH, WITHOUT ILL INTENT, IS NOT A CRIME\u201dhttps:\/\/t.co\/iyGVBr0BCZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) August 21, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Defi, Hiding Money & Ill Intent<\/h2>\n

The issue came under the spotlight after a New York jury recently convicted Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, on conspiracy charges linked to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.<\/p>\n

Tornado Cash<\/a> is a privacy service specifically designed to make Defi and cryptocurrency transactions more difficult to trace.<\/p>\n

Jurors could not reach a decision on whether Storm committed money laundering or violated sanctions.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said the service allowed illicit finance, while critics of the case argued Storm had only written code.<\/p>\n


\nProsecutors Will Prioritize Evidence Of Intent<\/p>\n

According to Galeotti, future cases in the Defi and crypto space will require proof that a developer knowingly aided fraud, sanctions evasion, or laundering.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovating new ways for the economy to store and transmit value and create wealth, without ill-intent, is not a crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that laws banning unlicensed money transmission will not apply to developers unless there is evidence of deliberate wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

The focus of the US justices will remain on fraud, Ponzi schemes<\/a>, and global laundering networks, including those based in China and other countries suspected of carrying out illicit transactions.<\/p>\n

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a major policy shift, federal prosecutors are changing how they approach decentralized finance, or Defi. After years of uncertainty around liability for coders and software developers, officials are now drawing a clear line between creating technology and committing a crime. The US Justice Department has announced it will no longer target software developers who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-43670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}