DOJ Statement: Writing Code Alone Does Not Constitute a Crime, but the Storm Case Remains a Touchstone

BroadChain, April 28 - According to Bitcoinist, DOJ Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated at the Bitcoin 2026 conference that the Department of Justice has shifted its enforcement stance, asserting that merely writing code should not be a target for criminal prosecution. Blanche emphasized that criminal liability depends on actions, knowledge, and intent, not on the act of coding itself. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal summarized, "A crime is a crime, but code itself should not be criminalized."

This statement aims to address the long-standing dissatisfaction within the crypto industry—where US prosecutors have blurred the line between writing neutral code and participating in the illegal use of that code. Blanche claimed to have "fundamentally changed investigative methods" and allowed developers' lawyers to directly appeal to the FBI or himself if prosecutorial actions are inconsistent with the memorandum. However, he acknowledged that some existing cases are still being processed due to "complex facts and procedural challenges."

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm's defense attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, explicitly stated that the DOJ's remarks offer no hope. "The DOJ claims to be 'changing the game' while continuing to prosecute Storm—this lacks all credibility." The precedent that the SDNY seeks to establish completely contradicts Blanche's memorandum and presidential policy. The Storm case serves as a litmus test for the gap between policy signals and courtroom reality. If prosecutors can attribute third-party misuse of tools to software authors, the risks faced by developers remain unresolved.