Tornado Cash Criminalizing Code
The Tornado Cash case highlights how governments are using surveillance narratives to attack developers and undermine financial privacy.
Criminalizing Developers for Writing Code
The U.S. government’s prosecution of Tornado Cash developers marks a dangerous turning point in the war on privacy. Instead of targeting those committing crimes, prosecutors are attempting to criminalize the very act of writing and publishing open-source software.
- Authorities are framing Tornado Cash as a criminal enterprise, even though its developers had long since relinquished control. Its core purpose is user financial privacy, not money laundering.
- Prosecutors misinterpreted quotes, inflated alleged amounts of “laundered” money, and mischaracterized Tornado Cash as a money transmitter—all to fit their narrative.
- By using broad conspiracy charges, the government doesn’t need to prove the developer laundered money himself. Merely writing or promoting the code is enough to face prison.
- Major banks routinely facilitate billions in illicit transactions but escape prosecution, while a single open-source developer is being crushed.
Why This Case Matters
- Writing code is speech. Prosecutors are trying to equate publishing privacy-enhancing software with enabling crime, similar to banning the printing of books because criminals might read them.
- Developers everywhere are watching. If Tornado Cash is criminalized, who will dare write privacy tools like VPNs, encryption libraries, or secure messaging apps?
- This isn’t just about one protocol. Governments want total visibility into personal finances, reversing decades of implied financial privacy.
The Precedent We Can’t Afford
A conviction would set a precedent that endangers the entire open-source ecosystem. Developers could be held criminally liable for how third parties use their software—even if they have zero control.
This is about more than Tornado Cash:
- Could Bitcoin mixers be next?
- What about privacy coins or P2P protocols?
- Could this spill over to end-to-end encryption, Tor, or secure email clients?
Closing Thoughts
This case is not about stopping money laundering. It’s about normalizing financial surveillance and punishing those who resist it. If the government succeeds, the cost won’t just be a few privacy tools—it will be the loss of a fundamental human right.
“First they came for the privacy developers, and I did not speak out…”
💬 What do you think? Should writing code ever be a crime?