A Texas man is suing the Attorney General over the DOJ’s crackdown on crypto software developers

On Thursday, an employee of crypto think tank Coin Center filed a lawsuit against US Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking a court guarantee that the Department of Justice (DOJ) cannot prosecute his upcoming crypto project for violating money transfer laws in the future.

A lawsuit filed by blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen alleges that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed criminal charges against software developers who published jail-free cryptocurrency software, including Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet founder Keon Rodriguez. is unconstitutional and violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

In addition to being unconstitutional, the lawsuit says, the DOJ’s crackdown on crypto developers “sells its representation to the public” that unless developers have “fully independent control over value,” they won’t budge. money transmitters.

Lewellen’s suit comes amid growing concern in the US about government prosecution of crypto privacy software developers. and abroad. Tornado Cash Storm faces up to 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts related to the crypto-mingling service; Rodriguez faces up to 25 years in prison for making the Samourai Wallet. Both have pleaded not guilty and are due to go on trial this year.

In the absence of a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, preliminary lawsuits like Lewellen’s are becoming more and more common. Last year, two NFT artists filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking a similar declaratory judgment shielding them from civil penalties by the SEC.

Read more: Does the SEC Really Have Jurisdiction Over NFT Art? Two artists are suing the SEC for answers

Through his suit, Lewellen tries to escape the fate of Rodriguez and Storm. His upcoming project, Pharos, is primarily a crypto-based Kickstarter. His crowdfunding platform, built on Ethereum, uses a type of smart contracts he calls “guarantee contracts” to ensure that donors automatically get their money back if a project isn’t fully funded. The project will also have privacy features that prevent public identification of project donors.

As the creator and publisher of Pharos, Lewellen receives a predetermined fee from successful projects. According to him, “he will never control the cryptocurrency that passes through Pharos”.

Appointed by President Joe Biden, Garland will soon leave the DOJ. Hearings are underway on President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Garland as attorney general. Garlan’s successor will automatically be replaced as a named defendant in the suit upon his departure from the DOJ.