The cases against the developers of Tornado Cash raise significant questions about legal accountability for software creators. Two men, Storm and Pertsev, face accusations tied to the use of their development in criminal activity.
Who Is Behind the Accusations
Storm and Pertsev are accused of using their software Tornado Cash for illegal activities, such as money laundering. Storm was convicted of conspiracy to handle criminal funds, although the jury deadlocked on more severe charges.
Discussion on Developer Responsibility
SPI CEO Miller Whitehouse-Levine emphasizes that the accusations imply a potentially dangerous understanding of developers’ roles concerning third-party use of their code. The comparison to encryption tools such as WhatsApp challenges the legality of holding developers accountable for their users' criminal acts.
Industry's Response to Threats
The fundraising campaign to support Storm has raised $5.4 million, while initiatives like the letter from DeFi Education Fund highlight the need for legislative protections for developers. Whitehouse-Levine stresses that the U.S. government cannot prosecute the engineering community for criminal misuse of the road network, and blockchain infrastructure creators should have similar rights.
Storm's case could set precedents that will influence the regulation of open-source software worldwide. This underscores the importance of protecting developers from criminal prosecution for the applications of their technologies.
