In January of 2025, Coin Center fellow, Michael Lewellen sued the DOJ alleging

that the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) criminal prosecution of software developers who publish noncustodial cryptocurrency software – including the ongoing prosecutions of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez – is unconstitutional, and violates the First and Fifth Amendments.

I'm sure that Coin Center put a lot of thought into the case, but I guess they figured the best exemplary plaintiff was a crypto guy:

Through his suit, Lewellen is trying to avoid Rodrigez and Storm’s fate. His forthcoming project, Pharos, is essentially a crypto-based Kickstarter. Built on Ethereum, his crowdfunding platform will use a type of smart contracts he calls “assurance contracts” to ensure that donors will automatically get their money back if the project is not fully funded. The project will also have privacy features that prevents a project’s donors from being publicly identifiable.

Today, the District Court of Northern Texas dismissed the suit. Here's what the Rage had to say about it:

A Texas Court has dismissed a lawsuit by cryptocurrency developer Michael Lewellen filed against Attorney General Pam Bondi, in which he alleged that criminal cases brought against non-custodial privacy software developers kept him from freely publishing his own privacy software.

The court has now dismissed the case, arguing that Lewellen faces no credible threat of prosecution because:

• He says his software is only software
• He disclaims knowingly transmitting illegal proceeds
• Deputy AG Todd Blanche issued a April 2025 memo promising to no longer prosecute developers of software

The Texas ruling fails to acknowledge that the US Government continued to prosecute both the developers of Samourai Wallet as well as Roman Storm of Tornado Cash with the Blanche memo in place, directly affecting Lewellen's claim.

Peter Van Valkenberg, ED at Coin Center, had an equally negative take, but with a few more details:

Frustrated to share that the Northern District of Texas has dismissed Michael Lewellen’s suit for declaratory judgment. The court sided with the government, holding that Michael does not face a credible threat of enforcement for publishing non-custodial privacy tools.

The court pointed to the Blanche memo from this administration, which said DOJ would deprioritize some unlicensed money transmission cases involving non-custodial software, and treated that as enough to reassure developers like Michael.

But that is not real clarity. A DOJ memo is not binding law. It can be revised, revoked, or ignored. And it plainly has not provided meaningful protection to developers, given the outcomes in the Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet cases.

So while I hope the court is right that non-custodial software developers are not at real risk, the Blanche memo is not enough to secure their rights. It is a vague enforcement signal, not a durable limit on government power.

Worse, the court has now used that vague signal as a reason not to provide actual judicial clarity on the scope of developer liability. Instead of a clear rule, developers get a revocable memo and a court telling them not to worry.

Now more than ever we need Congress to act and pass the BRCA, which would settle the law: devs are not money transmitters and shouldn’t face felony liability for publishing privacy tools.