On January 13, Decrypt reported that U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (Republican-Wyoming) and Ron Wyden (Democrat-Oregon) have reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which aims to clarify when cryptocurrency developers are considered "money transmitters" under federal law.
The bill links liability to control of assets, rather than liability solely for writing or maintaining software.Lummis said, "It makes no sense for blockchain developers to face the long-term threat of being classified as money transmitters if they are only writing code and maintaining open source infrastructure, especially when they have never touched, controlled, or been able to access user funds."The proposal is particularly important in the context of the DOJ's lawsuits against privacy software such as Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet.[TechFlow]