64 months in prison for developing privacy software.
Discussion
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Free Dmitry Sklyarov!
How dare he.
Fuck the feds.
Inventing a tool is not selling it, using it, or facilitating its use. The crime, if there is one, is in the use of a thing, not in its invention.
The crime: they were aware of malevolent use and didn't report it.
If I were a knife, gun, vehicle, or alcohol manufacturer, I know my product is used incorrectly, that is to say for unethical, harmful, or illegal purposes. Would I be responsible for its misuse?
If you knew of specific crimes then yes you would. Knowing of them and not reporting them makes you an accessory.
It would be aiding and abetting, or criminal negligence, not laundering per se. "Tornado Cash does not pose any barrier for people with criminal assets who want to launder them." (from Coindesk article) The root of the issue is if Tornado Cash ought to have a built-in barrier, but this would also make it vulnerable to tyrannical control, like a remote shutoff for vehicles would make policing "too easy," if you will, and vulnerable to misuse and abuse by the authorities.
It can be argued whether it is ethical to build a technology with no shutoff or censor mechanism, but that's basically the same as Bitcoin itself.
I think it's time all Bitcoin related develoGen to follow Satoshi down the anonymous path. Perhaps past time for current gen, but next generation should pay heed.
is tornado cash still running?
The crime is the crime.
So called "money laundering" is not a crime.
Exactly that’s why we see resistance against such cases like this one:
https://www.blocktrainer.de/en/blog/us-senators-criticize-doj-more-clarity-for-crypto-wallets
The problem with mixing is that they are custodial services which makes them weak.
Coinjoins are like samurai or wasabi are much more powerful. Because they are working on a non custodial base and taking a coordinator down doesn’t stop the system.
The perfect system would a Coinjoin service like wasabi with a decentralized coordination.
That’s because they assume that if you want privacy you are automatically doing something illegal. Guilty until proven innocent instead of innocent until proven guilty. 🤡🌎
If code is speech, there gonna be a shit ton of self censorship going on
crazy dystopian