Jason Gottlieb Quoted in Forbes on DOJ’s Shift in Crypto Enforcement and Implications for Tornado Cash Case

Partner Jason Gottlieb was quoted in a Forbes article entitled “DOJ Shifts Crypto Focus, Raising Questions About Tornado Cash.” The article discussed how after years of targeting crypto founders and developers for alleged regulatory violations, the DOJ is now shifting focus to bad actors that use permissionless technology tools for terrorism, trafficking and other crimes.

Jason, who chairs Morrison Cohen’s Digital Assets and White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement Practices, said, “The DOJ is finally recognizing that software developers are not the right targets. This is a long-overdue course correction.” However, it remains to be seen whether the DOJ’s policy change will influence the court’s rulings in the Tornado Cash case, which relates to whether developers can be held criminally liable for creating open source code later used in financial crimes.

Jason explained that if the jury convicts at trial, it will be hard to know whether the defendants were found guilty due to a determination that the defendants developed the core immutable smart contracts, or because of other factors.

“And, unfortunately, if there is a guilty verdict, other prosecutors can build on it,” said Jason. “This will have a chilling effect for founders and innovators in the crypto/digital asset space looking to build infrastructure, particularly involving privacy preserving technology.”

Forbes subscribers may read the full article here.