[Cryptography] Privacy, Code, and the Future

[Howard Chu]

Andrew Lee wrote:
> Howard, Peter and all readers,
> 
> Respectfully, I think we should be very careful about the precedent this case sets.
> 
> The core issue here isn’t whether privacy tools are sometimes used by bad actors as any powerful technology carries that risk.
> 
> The deeper concern is assigning criminal liability to the people who build foundational infrastructure, especially when it’s open source and autonomous.

That is not what is happening here. You're still stirring sensationalist nonsense. Quit amplifying a false narrative.

> Roman Storm wrote code.
> 
> That code was deployed and became immutable, operating independently on a decentralized network.
> 
> Hard stop.

The authorship of the code is irrelevant to the case.

Roman is being prosecuted because he operated a commercial enterprise, profiting off use of that code. It is brazenly
a for-profit enterprise, backed by venture capitalists. As such, that enterprise was subject to the regulations that
apply to businesses that deal in transferring money for customers.

None of this has anything to do with the fact the code is open source.

> With all due respect, let’s be thoughtful.

Let's also be truthful. The facts of the case are already outlined in the article I linked previously.

They are not what your fear-mongering states. Your attempt to conflate the issue of open source development here
is the only thing that could cause harm to software developers. Stop muddying the water.

> If fear defines the boundaries of what’s possible, we might as well wear a ball and chain on our ankles.
> 
> I believe in natural limits, not artificial ones imposed by man. I know that you all think the same, because you have all made the impossible, possible, time
> and time again.
> 
> We're the ones who understand the code and its implications. It’s our responsibility to ensure that nuance, not fear, shapes the future.
> 
> - Andrew
> 
> On Wed, Aug 6, 2025 at 7:54 PM Howard Chu <hyc at symas.com <mailto:hyc at symas.com>> wrote:
> 
>     Andrew Lee wrote:
>     > Roman Storm, one of the developers of Tornado Cash, a smart contract on Ethereum designed to enable transactional privacy, has been found guilty of
>     conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business [1].
>     >
>     > Tornado Cash is simply code. It runs on the Ethereum Virtual Machine, autonomously.
>     >
>     > Yet, in 2022, the U.S. government designated it as a sanctioned entity, making it illegal for U.S. persons to interact with it in any capacity, including
>     simply receiving coins therefrom [2].
>     >
>     > This case, and its verdict, makes writing open source code that enables privacy a crime.
> 
>     That's pure FUD. Roman Storm got in trouble because he was making a profit off the Tornado Cash platform.
>     By definition, he was operating a business. A money transmitting business, without a license.
> 
>     Writing open source has nothing to do with the case.
> 
>     https://cryptobriefing.com/doj-targets-tornado-cash-profits/
> 
>     > It makes receiving a transaction from autonomous code a crime.
>     >
>     >
>     > Technology is becoming more powerful, more decentralized, and more foundational to society. With that power comes tension between openness and control,
>     privacy and compliance, innovation and regulation.
>     >
>     > It’s very easy to overlook these moments, since they feel distant or abstract.
>     >
>     > But make no mistake, they set precedents.
>     >
>     > They shape culture.
>     >
>     > They influence what we, the cypherpunks building at the edge, believe is possible or, rather, permissible.
>     >
>     >
>     > “We must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any.” — Eric Hughes, A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto, 1993
>     >
>     >
>     > Today is a setback for cryptography, for open source and for digital rights int he so-called land of the free [3]. We’ve taken one step back.
>     >
>     > It’s time to take two steps forward.
>     >
>     >
>     > The Crypto Wars never ended.  They simply waited until the cypherpunks were all but gone.
>     >
>     > But you are still here.
>     >
>     > Now is the time to rise.
>     >
>     >
>     > - Andrew
>     >
>     >
>     > [1] https://cointelegraph.com/news/tornado-cash-roman-storm-found-guilty-partial-verdict
>     >
>     > [2] https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20220808
>     >
>     > [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner
>     > _______________________________________________
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>     >
> 
> 
>     -- 
>       -- Howard Chu
>       CTO, Symas Corp.           http://www.symas.com
>       Director, Highland Sun     http://highlandsun.com/hyc/
>       Chief Architect, OpenLDAP  http://www.openldap.org/project/
> 


-- 
  -- Howard Chu
  CTO, Symas Corp.           http://www.symas.com
  Director, Highland Sun     http://highlandsun.com/hyc/
  Chief Architect, OpenLDAP  http://www.openldap.org/project/