Crypto security expert Michael Lewellen has sued the US Department of Justice over what he says is a “flawed and unfair” approach to blockchain code development.
Lewellen, a lecturer at the University of Dallas and board member of the Texas Blockchain Council, to file the lawsuit against the DOJ in response to the government's legal crackdown on crypto mixers like Tornado Cash and their developers.
Federal prosecutors have tried to classify protocols like Tornado Cash as money transmission services. Lawsuits and sanctions have prevented blockchain developers from knowingly writing code that could be misused by criminals in the future.
The crypto industry has been strongly opposed to this interpretation of the law, comparing the DOJ's argument to blaming car manufacturers for road accidents.
A federal judge previously ruled that code writers cannot be held liable for creating decentralized protocols, and Tornado Cash then removed from the Treasury sanctions list. However, the developers of Tornado Cash and individuals associated with other crypto mixers are still on the DOJ's indictment lists.
This lawsuit is about ensuring that innovators can create without fear and that laws are not misused to hold back progress. For too long, the Biden administration has used a lack of clarity to scare developers away from new technology or force them to leave the US. That has to end.
Michael Lewellen on X
Lewellen's complaint presents three main arguments: the DOJ does not have the statutory authority to prosecute software creators for allegedly running “money transmission businesses,” the crack violates the First Amendment, and the department's actions violate due process.
The lawsuit is supported by the crypto advocacy group CoinCenter and represents the latest industry effort to protect the right to code.
