U.S. Department of Justice Official States 'Writing Code Without Malice is Not a Crime' Following Tornado Cash Conviction

On the 21st, Matthew Gareotti, Acting Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, announced that federal prosecutors will no longer pursue charges against decentralized software developers under Title 18 Section 1960 of the U.S. Code. Mr. Gareotti stated, 'We will continue to prosecute those who commit crimes such as fraud, money laundering, or sanctions evasion, or those who aid and abet such crimes. However, our stance is that merely writing code without malice is not a criminal act.' He emphasized that if the software is truly decentralized, automates only peer-to-peer transactions, and evidence shows that it does not involve third parties...