US-DOJ stärkt Krypto-Privatsphäre: Code ist kein Verbrechen

Das US-Justizministerium setzt ein klares Zeichen: Die Entwicklung von Privacy-Tools stellt per se keine Straftat dar.

Klare Richtlinien für Entwickler

Neue Leitlinien unterscheiden zwischen legitimer Privacy-Software-Entwicklung und vorsätzlicher Förderung illegaler Aktivitäten. Ein Sieg für technologische Innovation und Privatsphäre im Krypto-Raum.

Auswirkungen auf den Kryptomarkt

Die Klarstellung dürfte weitere Innovationen im Privacy-Bereich antreiben und regulatorische Unsicherheiten für Entwickler reduzieren. Während traditionelle Finanzinstitute noch über Privacy-Bedenken stolpern, bewegt sich die Krypto-Branche bereits in die nächste Evolutionsstufe.

Die Botschaft ist eindeutig: Code ist Rede—und damit durch den First Amendment geschützt. Ein bemerkenswerter Schritt in einer Welt, in der Regulierungsbehörden oft mit der Technologieentwicklung kämpfen.

DOJ shift could upend Tornado Cash case

Just weeks ago, a jury in New York found Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The conviction has stunned many in the crypto industry. They argue that Storm had simply written and published code that ran in a decentralized way on Ethereum.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have charged him under 18 U.S.C. 1960.

Galeotti addressed this situation with his remarks. “Where the evidence shows that software is truly decentralized and solely automates peer-to-peer transactions, and where a third party does not have custody and control over user assets, new 1960(b)(1)(c) charges against a third party will not be approved,” he said. 

Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at Variant Fund, called it grounds to overturn Storm’s conviction. In a post, he stated that “Roman Storm was just convicted on this exact charge under this exact circumstance,” he posted on X. “Justice for Roman means dropping the case.”

This statement shows how top watchdogs are now analyzing the crypto industry under the Donald TRUMP administration. Earlier in the Biden era, the DOJ aggressively pursued crypto cases, often casting a wide net. However, the new line suggests prosecutors will take a narrower approach focused on intent and actual criminal conduct.

A Trump-era DOJ memo, re-emphasized under Galeotti, stated that enforcement should not impose “regulatory frameworks on digital assets while President Trump’s actual regulators do this work outside the punitive criminal justice framework.”

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