Blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking a court ruling that his upcoming cryptocurrency crowdfunding project, Pharos, does not violate the unlicensed money transmission laws. Lewellen accuses the Department of Justice of violating the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by prosecuting cryptocurrency software developers, such as Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez, which contradicts the Department's previous public statements that developers are not considered money transmitters. Pharos is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency crowdfunding platform that utilizes smart contracts to ensure that projects that fail to raise funds automatically refund the contributions and protect donors' privacy.

PANews reported on January 17 that according to CoinDesk, blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking the court to rule that his upcoming crypto crowdfunding project Pharos does not violate unlicensed money transmission laws. Lewellen accused the Department of Justice of violating the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by prosecuting crypto software developers (such as Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez), and contradicted the Department of Justice's previous public statement that developers are not considered money transmitters.
 Lewellen's project Pharos is an Ethereum-based crypto crowdfunding platform that uses smart contracts to ensure that projects that fail to raise funds automatically return funds and protect the privacy of donors.

Blockchain entrepreneur sues the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking legal protection for cryptocurrency crowdfunding projects.