{"id":7048,"date":"2026-02-27T08:43:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T08:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2026-02-27T08:43:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T08:43:47","slug":"lawmakers-move-to-shield-crypto-developers-from-federal-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
    \n
  • A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers has co-sponsored a bill designed to prevent criminal prosecution of software developers who code blockchain apps but do not control users\u2019 crypto assets.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The bill clarifies that breaches of the federal criminal code related to unlicensed money transmission operations would only apply to developers with custody of digital assets.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • The move has long been called for in the crypto industry and has drawn support from major crypto advocacy groups<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    A new bipartisan bill introduced into the US House of Representatives aims to protect American blockchain software developers from criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

    The \u2018Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act\u2019 was jointly introduced on Thursday by Republican Representatives Scott Fitzgerald and Ben Cline, together with Democrat Zoe Lofgren.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Congressman Ben Cline, who represents Virginia, tweeted that the bill \u201crestores needed clarity by protecting developers who don\u2019t control customer funds, while ensuring law enforcement can continue to target real criminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n

    For too long, federal overreach has blurred the line between bad actors and the innovators building next-generation technology.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n Rep. Ben Cline <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    The bill specifies that coders who don\u2019t take custody of, or control, customer money are not subject to prosecution under Title 18 US Code 1960 \u2014 which makes it a federal crime to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \"\"\"\"<\/figure>\n

    Similar protections for coders were included in the crypto market structure bill (a.k.a. CLARITY Act), but that legislation has been delayed in Congress and it\u2019s unclear what its final form will be. Speculative betting markets like Polymarket put the odds of the bill passing this year at over 50%, but Ripple\u2019s\u00a0 CEO recently said it was even more likely.<\/p>\n

    Related: CLARITY Act Likely To Be Signed Into Law Before The End of April: Ripple CEO<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Developer Protections Welcomed by Industry<\/h2>\n

    Developer liability has been in focus in a number of high-profile crypto project criminal cases. Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm was convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in 2025. He has yet to be sentenced.<\/p>\n

    The jury is still out on whether Storm can be considered a \u2018bad actor\u2019 or an \u2018innovator\u2019 \u2014 Tornado Cash is a privacy protocol and \u2018mixer\u2019 that lets people anonymise the source of their transactions, which has been a boon for crims looking to launder ill-gotten gains.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    The crypto industry has widely called for developers to be exempt from such legal action. The Solana Policy Institute said that Storm\u2019s case was \u201cnot an isolated dispute\u201d in an open letter in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Related: Tornado Cash Creator Found Guilty on One Charge, Crypto Community Eyes Appeal<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is a test of whether the United States will continue to support and lead in open innovation \u2013 or whether fear and misinterpretation will drive builders out of the system entirely,\u201d the Institute said.<\/p>\n

    News of the \u2018Promoting Innovation in Blockchain Development Act\u2019 has been welcomed by industry bodies. Washington-based crypto research non-profit Coin Center said it was a \u201clong-needed response to the DOJ\u2019s wrongful prosecutions of developers in the Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The US Blockchain Association called it a \u201ccritical step to ensure the United States remains the best place in the world to build.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n

    This targeted clarification, which is aligned with existing Treasury guidance, is essential to ensuring that developers of non-custodial technologies are not exposed to misdirected criminal enforcement.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n Blockchain Association <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

    Blockchain,Cryptocurrency,Law#Lawmakers #Move #Shield #Crypto #Developers #Federal #Prosecution1772181827<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers has co-sponsored a bill designed to prevent criminal prosecution of software developers who code blockchain apps but do not control users\u2019 crypto assets.\u00a0 The bill clarifies that breaches of the federal criminal code related to unlicensed money transmission operations would only apply to developers with custody of digital<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[62,1337,1646,217,302,2875,671],"class_list":{"0":"post-7048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bitcoin","8":"tag-crypto","9":"tag-developers","10":"tag-federal","11":"tag-lawmakers","12":"tag-move","13":"tag-prosecution","14":"tag-shield"},"yoast_head":"\nLawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers has co-sponsored a bill designed to prevent criminal prosecution of software developers who code blockchain apps but do not control users\u2019 crypto assets.\u00a0 The bill clarifies that breaches of the federal criminal code related to unlicensed money transmission operations would only apply to developers with custody of digital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T08:43:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2026\/02\/27150712\/Rep.-Ben-Cline.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u884c\u653f\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u884c\u653f\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048\",\"name\":\"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-27T08:43:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/822778c5844e0d16d43dce6630f4f1bf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/\",\"name\":\"Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis\",\"description\":\"Latest Crypto & Bitcoin News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/822778c5844e0d16d43dce6630f4f1bf\",\"name\":\"\u884c\u653f\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4c2d23409b09e004cef3facbe677e95c5401f9e29680f3a311e0130c5748089?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4c2d23409b09e004cef3facbe677e95c5401f9e29680f3a311e0130c5748089?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u884c\u653f\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/demo3.aiwalls.com\/coinbase\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution","og_description":"A bipartisan group of US House lawmakers has co-sponsored a bill designed to prevent criminal prosecution of software developers who code blockchain apps but do not control users\u2019 crypto assets.\u00a0 The bill clarifies that breaches of the federal criminal code related to unlicensed money transmission operations would only apply to developers with custody of digital","og_url":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048","og_site_name":"Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis","article_published_time":"2026-02-27T08:43:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.cryptonews.com.au\/2026\/02\/27150712\/Rep.-Ben-Cline.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"\u884c\u653f","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"\u884c\u653f","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048","url":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048","name":"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution - Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-02-27T08:43:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/822778c5844e0d16d43dce6630f4f1bf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/blockchain-developer.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=7048#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lawmakers Move to Shield Crypto Developers From Federal Prosecution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/","name":"Crypto News: Latest Cryptocurrency News and Analysis","description":"Latest Crypto & Bitcoin News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/822778c5844e0d16d43dce6630f4f1bf","name":"\u884c\u653f","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4c2d23409b09e004cef3facbe677e95c5401f9e29680f3a311e0130c5748089?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4c2d23409b09e004cef3facbe677e95c5401f9e29680f3a311e0130c5748089?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u884c\u653f"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/demo3.aiwalls.com\/coinbase"],"url":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}