{"id":364341,"date":"2025-08-22T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T09:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/364341\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T09:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T09:53:11","slug":"justice-for-roman-storm-why-dojs-new-stance-reignited-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/364341\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice for Roman Storm? – Why DoJ’s new stance reignited debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKey Takeaways<\/p>\n

The crypto community now wants the Roman Storm charges dropped after the latest DoJ remarks. Will the government fail to defend its verdict in the appeal?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. government will no longer charge decentralized software (DeFi) developers for crimes committed by third parties on the platforms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During a recent American Innovation Project Summit in Wyoming, Mathew Galeotti, acting head of the Department of Justice\u2019s (DoJ) criminal division, clarified<\/a> that,\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cGenerally, developers of neutral tools, with no criminal intent, should not be held responsible for someone else\u2019s misuse of those tools. If a third-party\u2019s misuse violates criminal law, that third-party should be prosecuted \u2014 not the well-intentioned developer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Crypto legal experts split<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, crypto leaders and legal experts were quick to point out that the remark was the very premise under which Roman Storm<\/a>, founder of crypto mixer Tornado Cash, was charged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Storm was found guilty under the U.S. Code 1960(b)(1)(c), which bans unlicensed money transmitters from handling funds from crime or intended for illegal activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, in the latest guidance, Galeotti highlighted that they won\u2019t approve such charges against developers, especially for fully decentralized protocols.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWhere 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 the third-party will not be approved.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So, where does that leave Roman Storm, who\u2019s facing up to 5 years in jail? Well, that was a question posed by top crypto legal experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For his part, Jake Chervinsky, legal chief at crypto VC Variant Fund, stated<\/a> that the case against Storm should be dropped if based on the latest DoJ stance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cRoman Storm was just convicted on this exact charge under this exact circumstance. Justice for Roman means dropping the case.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"DoJ<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: X<\/p>\n

Coinbase\u2019s legal chief, Paul Grewal, also echoed a similar stance. Notably, Storm was charged earlier in the month, and the community has been pushing for an appeal.<\/p>\n

Given the latest remark by a high-ranking DoJ official, whether the government will defend its verdict in the appeal remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext: Solana \u2013 How weak demand might affect its price targets of $188 and $206<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key Takeaways The crypto community now wants the Roman Storm charges dropped after the latest DoJ remarks. Will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[52,51,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-364341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-ambcrypto","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115071812288785907","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}