Bitcoin Developers Are Not DOJ Targets, Blanche Says
By Peace Longe from Crypto.news
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel told the Bitcoin 2026 Conference in Las Vegas on April 27 that Bitcoin developers who write code without knowingly helping third parties commit crimes will not be investigated or charged, marking the clearest public statement on developer liability from the nation’s top law enforcement officials since the Tornado Cash prosecutions began.
Bitcoin developers get a federal assurance built on a specific April 2025 memo
The policy Blanche described at the conference is grounded in a memo he issued in April 2025 as Deputy Attorney General, which directed the DOJ to end “regulation by prosecution” in crypto cases and disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.
Blanche was careful to draw the line precisely: writing code is protected, but knowingly facilitating money laundering or sanctions violations is not. “The mere fact that you happen to be a coder doesn’t excuse you from criminal liability,” he said.
He added that developers who receive subpoenas should feel comfortable having their lawyers communicate directly with prosecutors and with him personally if they believe the case is inconsistent with his memo.
What the Blanche remarks mean for the Samourai Wallet and Roman Storm cases
The clearest test of whether Blanche’s statement translates into changed outcomes will be the Roman Storm retrial. Storm was convicted in August 2025 of operating an unlicensed money transmitter, but the jury deadlocked on the more serious charges of money laundering and sanctions violations.
Prosecutors subsequently filed for an October retrial on the unresolved counts. Blanche acknowledged “lingering” and “procedurally complicated” cases at the conference without naming them specifically, while emphasizing the policy shift is real.
What Patel’s enforcement redirect means for crypto fraud victims
Patel said the FBI’s focus has shifted toward crypto fraud networks including pig-butchering scam centers tied to foreign adversaries, and that he plans to travel to Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand this summer to coordinate related enforcement work with local authorities.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who moderated the session, summarized the message as “crime is criminal; code alone shouldn’t be.”
Source : https://crypto.news/bitcoin-developers-are-not-doj-targets-blanche-says/
