Key Takeaways:
The US Department of Justice has shifted its enforcement policy, signaling it will no longer prosecute blockchain developers for the illicit use of their software by third parties, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced at a Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas on April 27.
"If you are developing software, if you are a coder, if you are part of that process and you are not the third-party user, and you are not helping and knowing the third party is using what you developed to commit crimes, you are not going to be investigated and not going to be charged,” Blanche said.
The new stance provides a stark contrast to the DOJ's previous "regulation by prosecution" approach. That strategy culminated in the August 2023 indictment of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov for facilitating money laundering. Storm was convicted in August 2025, while Semenov remains at large. The shift follows a memo from Blanche in April 2025 outlining a commitment to ending the practice of targeting developers for unwitting regulatory violations.
While the crypto community views the change as a positive step, some leaders argue it doesn't fully resolve the legal uncertainty facing developers. Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director at the advocacy group Coin Center, noted the message still leaves room for doubt. “The real question is where [the] DOJ draws the line between publishing noncustodial software and ‘helping’ or ‘knowing’ about a bad user,” he said. Van Valkenburgh pointed to the recent dismissal of a lawsuit from developer Michael Lewellen, who had sued the DOJ for clarity on whether his software could be classified as money transmission. A Texas court dismissed the case in March, finding no credible threat of enforcement.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
