#200 - Money Transmission & Developer Liability

Can the U.S. government send a software developer to prison for writing and publishing code? That's the question at the center of the Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet prosecutions, and every crypto founder, builder and investor should understand the answer. This deep-dive episode walks through the history of U.S. money transmission law, how the DOJ is applying it to non-custodial software developers, what the Roman Storm verdict actually means, and what new legislation could change in 2026. Guests: Peter Van Valkenburgh — Executive Director, Coin Center Amanda Tuminelli — Chief Executive Officer, DeFi Education Fund Brian Klein — Partner at Cooley, lead defense attorney for Roman Storm Jake Chervinsky — Hyperliquid Policy Center (cameo) This is the most comprehensive podcast I've ever done. Welcome to Law of Code, Season 2. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:18 What's at stake? 4:40 Which developers are at risk 6:03 Custodial vs. non-custodial 9:32 What is a money transmission license? 9:47 Steamships, the telegraph & Western Union 12:14 The Bank Secrecy Act 13:38 Section 1960 15:26 The Patriot Act 19:39 FinCEN's 2013 and 2019 guidance 24:42 OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash 27:30 How Tornado Cash works 30:48 Coin Center v. Yellen 32:24 DOJ indicts Roman Storm, Roman Semenov, Roman Sterlingov & Samourai Wallet developers 35:15 The Van Loon win 40:33 Developer losses 43:48 Bad facts make bad law 48:46 Brian Klein on Roman Storm's case 50:50 The Brady letter 57:00 Michael Lewellen sues for answers 1:09:24 The Blanche memo 1:18:46 The Galeotti speech 1:26:13 Catch-22 for developers 1:30:03 The chilling effect on U.S. innovation 1:33:48 Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act 1:38:03 Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act 1:45:28 What's next Nothing in this podcast is legal or investment advice. Newsletter: I'm re-launching the Law of Code newsletter soon: you can ⁠⁠⁠stay updated on emerging tech law for free here⁠⁠⁠ . Any feedback on this episode? Or how to improve the podcast? ⁠⁠ Click here ⁠⁠ . Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or investment advice. Views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of their employers. Listening to this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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#200 - Money Transmission & Developer Liability is an episode from Law of Code by Jacob Robinson.

This episode is 01:49:26 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

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