Ross is free. Now let’s free the internet of money

The Release of Ross Ulbricht and the Removal of sanctions on Tornado Cash mark important moments for the crypto community. It is more than symbolic. This is an opportunity to clearly rebrand the US as a safe place to build the internet of money.

Ross’s freedom comes after more than a decade in prison—a path marked by relentless advocacy, legal battles, and steady support from the crypto community. Its release is very important to me because more than a decade ago I launched the successor to his site, Silk Road 2.0.

His two life sentences are not just about the Silk Road. It symbolized the US government’s opposition to the blockchain industry and the idea of ​​a financial system controlled by individuals instead of big banks.

The US dollar is the global reserve currency; and, cryptocurrency has given the world a democratized access to this reserve through stablecoins. Satoshi Nakamoto declared Bitcoin a “peer-to-peer electronic money system” and the Silk Road was the first to realize this vision. Silk Road opened the door to cryptocurrency and introduced Silicon Valley (and many other groups) to Bitcoin. This has spawned companies like Coinbase, projects like Ethereum, and paved the way for stablecoins that are not yet private.

However, there is no legal market for buying and selling things with bitcoins. The reputation of our industry is that we are highly speculative and full of fraud. We cannot forget that Satoshi created Bitcoin for payments, not speculation. The US cannot miss the Internet of Money. Under previous administrations, global developers were afraid to even attend conferences held here. This has implications for the US crypto industry. Ross’ release is a clear sign that the US is no longer a scary place to innovate in cryptocurrency. His experience underscores the need for proportional justice and reminds us of the excessive human cost of regulating innovation.

Read more: Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht pardoned by President Trump

His release is an opportunity for reflection – to be clear about the past and celebrate his freedom. In the end, his harsh judgment hindered Bitcoin innovation for all of us. We must ensure that his work becomes a catalyst for constructive change, not a history of missed opportunities, a series of memecoins, or a divisive narrative that further erodes trust.

Similarly, the case of Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm – who is still in legal jeopardy – clearly illustrates the dangers of criminalizing innovation. Tornado Cash offers a critical function (“mixer”) for conducting private Ethereum transactions – a critical component of running a competitive business.

Creating privacy technologies is important, but we also need to understand the line between legitimate and illegitimate use cases. Yes, start the Silk Road, but don’t allow it to sell drugs. Launch Tornado Cash, but don’t encourage money laundering. Developers like me can’t be judged by the cool effects of both cases. Privacy innovators in the U.S. and abroad are second-guessing their work, fearing legal ramifications for creating tools that protect privacy.

And what do you do when you launch something decentralized that takes on a life of its own? Sanctions on Tornado Cash have been ruled illegal By the Fifth District CourtHowever, the Ministry of Justice rejected this decision as groundless. The developers of Tornado Cash were aware that it was being misused for money laundering, but did not act decisively to address it. On a decentralized platform, should its original developers be held accountable for user actions? For America’s decentralized software developers, there is a clear need to define “Section 230” so that their users are not criminally liable for what they do on their platforms. (“Section 230” refers to the law that exempts social media platforms from liability for content posted on their networks.)
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As entrepreneur-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy says, “You can’t go after the coders. What you need to do is go after some of the bad actors who are already breaking existing laws.

To move forward as an industry, we must separate the tools from the misuse of those tools. Privacy technologies such as Tornado Cash, Monero and Zcash have been unfairly stigmatized for being used for illegal activities. But they have transformative potential for legitimate uses, from protecting personal financial data to enabling secure business transactions.

With its extra secure transactions, Zcash enables individuals and businesses to conduct secure, private transactions while complying with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. Such innovations bridge the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional industries, allowing businesses to accept cryptocurrencies without disclosing sensitive financial details.

Privacy technology like Zcash also addresses a major flaw in Bitcoin and other public ledger cryptocurrencies: the disclosure of transaction data, which creates competitive disadvantages and privacy risks. Soon, Zcash will be on Mayachain, allowing a decentralized way to convert between Bitcoin and Zcash. ZSAs (Zone Assets) will also be supported soon, allowing stablecoins to be privately issued for the first time.

The new administration has proposed a national “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” but that raises questions about privacy and decentralization. Unlike other reserves, such as gold, Bitcoin’s blockchain keeps deposits and funds open to the public forever. Does the Trump administration know this? This level of transparency is a double-edged sword, making privacy technologies even more important for maintaining competitive and strategic advantages.

So where do we go from here? Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency industry are at a crossroads. This is a time to focus on the principles that drive early adoption: privacy acceptance, financial freedom, and most importantly, equitable payments.

The US crypto landscape, currently a mess of regulatory uncertainty, fraud and collapse, needs re-evaluation. Instead of demonstrating privacy innovations, policymakers should work with developers to create clear, enforceable standards for the responsible use of “e-cash.” This means proactive education and collaboration with regulators, greater investment in privacy technologies, and the development of a regulatory framework that encourages US blockchain innovation.