Will the programmers be strangled by encryption growth?

In the sophisticated rapid encryption world, the state of the Roman storm appeared as a decisive moment for developers, businessmen and policy makers alike. Storm, co -founder of Tornado Cash, Faces Money laundering and the charges of violating sanctions in the latest US government campaign are charged with encryption privacy tools. But what does this mean for the innovation of encryption-especially under the Trump administration, which has pledged during the presidential campaign to be a supporter of rent?

In an exclusive conversation about his ongoing legal battle, the storm described his position as “a nightmare that no developer should bear.” “The accusation has put my life in full forgetfulness. I can’t put any plans for the future, personally or professionally. Every day, my thoughts are consumed by the case, a real struggle to work and support my family while I am under this cloud.”

Storm, who acknowledged that he is not guilty, argues that he is not a criminal but rather the programmer who built a neutral technique – a privacy tool that has been abused by bad actors, just like countless other techniques before it. He emphasized, “If we start the trial of developers to write an open source symbol, then what is the next? Are we imprisoning someone to create a web browser because criminals use it to reach the illegal web sites?”

The effect of a chopper on the encryption developers based on the results of the storm case can put a dangerous precedent, especially for those who work on decentralized applications, privacy tools and Defi. The encryption industry has long relied on the principle of this Speech symbolProtected under the first amendment.

Tornado Cash: Innovation or Criminal Tool?

The US Treasury punished the Tornado Cash Hurricane in 2022, noting that it was used by the North Korean Piracy Group Lazarus to launder the stolen money. Many argue that the platform is designed to provide privacy for ordinary encryption users – an increasingly rare commodity in the era of collective monitoring. in Preliminary On Tornado Cash by the Federal Reserve in St. Louis in 2023, the dilemma of maintaining privacy is highlighted against Blockchain against money laundering problems. The primer states, “Given the high degree of transparency on the book of the General Professor, there is definitely a legitimate use of privacy for the encryption asset mixture. However, there is also strong evidence of the use of encryption assets of money laundering and hiding the effects of illegal activities.”

During his campaign, President Donald Trump put himself as a supporter of rent, embracing Bitcoin publicly and pledging to decline in hostilities. In the first week of his administration, Trump The executive order signed On the digital assets to review the encryption regulations, headed by David Sachs, “Crypto CZAR” at the White House. However, the storm issue raises an important question: Will the policy of encryption support for a garment extend to the protection of developers who build the encryption infrastructure?

It is not yet clear what Trump’s position on financial privacy. While his administration may reduce organizational burdens on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, it is not clear whether privacy tools such as Tornado Cash will receive the same indulgence. The storm began to be tried during the Biden era, but will Trump interfere?

The storm goes to the court in April 2025, and the trial will be a pivotal moment to regulate encryption. Last week, Frontier Electronic (EFF) presented a brief from the storm on behalf of the storm, on the pretext that his prosecution threatens the rights of program developers and shareholders in the open source. In addition, the model donated 1.25 million dollars for the legal defense of Storm, indicating the increasing interest of the industry on the issue.

A high -level criminal defense lawyer defends the storm

The Storm Brian Klein’s defense team, a high -level criminal defense attorney at Waymaker LLP. For many years, Klein has represented noticeable encryption characters, including Eric Furis, the founder of Shapeshift, and Arthur Hayes, founder of Bitmex. Klein negotiated a settlement with SEC for Voorhees and helped reduce the Hayes penalty in a high -level case.

This is not Klein’s first trial that involves an encrypted currency and penalties as well. Virgil Griffiths, an ETHEREUM developer against North Korea’s penalties. Griffiths eventually pledged guilty and sentenced him to more than five years in prison and a fine of $ 100,000 on charges of helping North Korea to evade sanctions through the encrypted currency. However, the storm case is different – he built the Tornado Cash protocol, which was later abused by North Korea. Discrimination raises important questions about the responsibility of the developer and the intention.

If they are convicted, some argue that this can push developers away from the jurisdiction of the United States, which prompts the innovation of encryption abroad. If you are absolved, it may confirm that writing an open source law is not a crime and that an important precedent for this industry will be placed. Currently, the storm is still in a state of legal forgetfulness, a test issue for the future of freedom of encryption. His final ideas? “I just want to build. That’s always what I have done. If we criminalize the builders, we are not just killing Crypto, we kill the future.”