Regulation
Trump’s Crypto Platform Lacks Key Developer Protection During Biden Crackdown
The Republican National Convention has endorsed former President Donald Trump’s new platform, signaling a significant shift toward a pro-innovation stance on cryptocurrency.
The platform includes commitments to defend the rights of Americans to mine Bitcoin, self-custody digital assets, and transact freely. However, it lacks one crucial element: protecting decentralized project developers from government interference and criminal prosecution.
The Biden Administration’s Hostile Stance on Cryptocurrencies
However, the cryptocurrency sector has faced considerable hostility from President Joe Biden’s administration, with companies including Ripple and Coinbase coming under attack.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been particularly vigilant with developers of privacy-preserving technologies. In particular, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, the developers of Cash Tornadohave faced drastic legal consequences.
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Tornado Cash, a decentralized protocol for private Ethereum transactions, due to its use by the Lazarus Group and other shady actors for money laundering purposes.
The Justice Department indicted Storm and Semenov on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and violation of sanctions, even though they were not the primary creators of the software.
While these lawsuits may be legitimate, critics argue that they distort developers’ intentions and pose a risk to innovation in privacy-enhancing technologies. Simply releasing open source software is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment, but sanctions law applied for developers it is still worrying.
Privacy Protection Technologies and Their Proelium
Tornado Cash and other privacy tools are useful and serve the purpose of data privacy and confidentiality. Features such as zero-knowledge proofs and homomorphic encryption are essential to protecting personal data.
The U.S. government has traditionally funded the creation of similar applications, such as Tor and Signal, that enhance user privacy and secure communications. However, it is a slippery slope when the state prosecutes developers for hypothetical future misuse of its tools, thereby threatening and stifling innovation in key areas such as consumer protection and financial sovereignty.
Trump’s Pro-Innovation Stance
Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance’s joining of the Trump campaign signals a pro-innovation, pro-crypto stance. A Bitcoin owner and former Silicon Valley pro, Vance has worked on legislation to provide regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry.
Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the cryptocurrency industry and is scheduled to speak at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville. Unlike the current leadership regime, his campaign policies promise a friendlier environment for cryptocurrency actualization.
The need for developer protection
While the regulations included in Trump’s program support laudable goals to protect the rights of Bitcoin miners and users, they lack provisions for the rights of decentralized application developers.
Due to lack of guarantees of freedom Due to government interventions and criminal charges, progress in the cryptocurrency industry is still unpredictable.
Therefore, a second Trump administration must focus on supporting the rights of developers working on technologies that facilitate Bitcoin mining, self-wallet custody, and free transactions. These developers must be protected to make the virtual currency arena safe and more conducive to innovation.