Acting AG Todd Blanche confirms ‘code is not a crime’ in DOJ pivot

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Source: Cointelegraph Blanche's comments were seen as positive within the crypto community, but some argued that more work needs to be done to provide developers with clarity. Responding to Blanche on X, Coin Center executive director Peter Van Valkenburgh said it was a “better message than developers have heard from DOJ in recent years,” but the message still leaves room for doubt. “But the real question is where [the] DOJ draws the line between publishing noncustodial software and ‘helping’ or ‘knowing’ about a bad user,” he said. Van Valkenburgh pointed to a court case in which developer Michael Lewellen sued the DOJ for pre-enforcement clarity on whether publishing his Ethereum-based crowdfunding tool constituted money transmission. Related: Tennessee crypto kiosk ban set to go into effect July 1 The case was dismissed in late March, with a Texas court finding that Lewellen had failed to demonstrate that there was a credible threat of enforcement from the DOJ. “DOJ is publicly acknowledging that developers are still sleeping with one eye open. At the same time, DOJ is telling the courts that Lewellen should not be allowed to ask for legal clarity because there is no credible threat,” he said, adding: “If the law is so clear why are devs sleeping with one eye open? If the law is so clear why fight to have the case dismissed?” The DOJ's change in approach has been taking shape for more than a year. In April 2025, Blanche released a memo explaining how the DOJ would handle enforcement differently going forward. The memo outlines a commitment to “ending regulation by prosecution,” under which developers will not be targeted for the actions of users of their platforms or for unwitting regulatory violations. “I do not want any platform to look at the Department of Justice or the FBI as somebody who's going to just cause them a lot of problems,” Blanche said at the Las Vegas conference. Magazine: AI-driven hacks could kill DeFi — unless projects act now

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Source:CoinTelegraph

Published:2026-04-28 05:08:37

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