US Senator Cynthia Lummis said that the Department of Justice's position on self-custody of cryptocurrencies contradicts existing Treasury Department guidance and violates the rule of law.
Lummis (R-WY) says she opposes the Biden administration's criminalization efforts regarding the Bitcoin (BTC) network and decentralized finance (defi).
The Department of Justice's stance has led to legal actions against cryptocurrency entities, such as the indictment against bitcoin mixer Samourai Wallet and Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm for unlicensed money transfers.
The cryptocurrency community, led by advocacy groups such as Currency positionstrongly disagreed with the Justice Department's interpretation.
“Every operational cryptocurrency wallet and smart contract is transferring funds and every developer is engaging in unauthorized transfer of funds,” said Peter Van Valkenburgh, research director at Coin Center, noting that this situation contradicts well-established FinCEN policy. Guidelines.
Coin Center also submitted an application Amicus curiae brief In support of Roman Storm, emphasizing that posting Tornado Cash code is protected by the First Amendment.