Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
The cryptocurrency company alliance urges Congress to prompt the Department of Justice to amend an "unprecedented and overly broad" legal interpretation that has been used to charge the developers of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash.
On March 26, a letter signed by 34 cryptocurrency companies and advocacy groups was sent to the Senate Banking Committee, the House Financial Services Committee, and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The letter pointed out that the Department of Justice's interpretation of unlicensed money transmission means that "almost every blockchain developer could potentially be prosecuted as a criminal."
The letter was led by the DeFi Education Fund, with signatories including companies like Kraken and Coinbase. It also mentioned that the Department of Justice's interpretation "creates confusion and ambiguity" and "threatens the viability of software development in the U.S. digital asset industry."
The group stated that the Department of Justice first presented this position through criminal charges in August 2023—at the same time it charged Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov with money laundering.
Storm has been released on bail and has pleaded not guilty, seeking to have the charges dismissed. Semenov, a Russian national, is currently at large.
Source: DeFi Education Fund
The U.S. Department of Justice has brought similar charges against Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, both of whom have pleaded not guilty.
The cryptocurrency group pointed out in the letter that two sections of the U.S. Code define "money transmission business": Title 31 Section 5330 specifies who must obtain a license, while Title 18 Section 1960 classifies unlicensed operation as a criminal offense.
The letter mentioned that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury listed examples of money transmission activities in its 2019 guidance and explicitly stated: "If a software developer has never received or controlled customer funds, that developer is not considered a 'money transmission business.'"
The group believes that the Department of Justice's position is that the definition of "money transmission business" under Section 5330 "is unrelated to determining whether someone is operating an unlicensed 'money transmission business' under Section 1960," even though the two sections are "intentionally kept similar" in wording, and FinCEN's guidance supports this connection.
They accused the Department of Justice of ignoring FinCEN's guidance and parts of the law when charging Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, unilaterally defining "money transmission business." The letter pointed out that this has led to "a conflict in the definition of 'money transmission' between two U.S. government agencies," which creates an "ambiguous and unfair situation" for compliant industry participants and innovators.
If not addressed, the Department of Justice's interpretation will expose non-custodial software developers "to criminal liability under U.S. law."
"The completely reasonable fear generated by this will effectively end the development of these technologies in the U.S."
In January, Michael Lewellen, a researcher at the cryptocurrency advocacy organization Coin Center, sued U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking a court ruling that the non-custodial software he plans to release is legal and to prevent the Department of Justice from using money transmission laws to prosecute him.
Lewellen stated that the Department of Justice "has begun to criminally charge individuals who release similar cryptocurrency software," and its actions "exceed the constitutional limits," expanding the interpretation of money transmission laws.
Related: Hester Peirce calls for the SEC to create rules to "incorporate" cryptocurrency regulation.
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