If Congress Wants To Be Pro Bitcoin, Then Act Like It

It has lately come to my consideration that a number of U.S. Congressmen who’ve taken very public pro-Bitcoin stances are usually not even conscious of the at the moment unfolding prosecution of Samourai Pockets builders Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill. 

That is merely mind-boggling to me as a Bitcoiner. The present authorized prosecution of the Samourai group, in addition to the related prosecutions towards Roman Sterlingov, accused of working the mixer Bitcoin Fog, and Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, two builders behind Twister Money, are crucial authorized circumstances impacting the sovereign and personal use of Bitcoin on the docket as we speak.. 

Roman Storm is sitting in jail proper now after a conviction attained with zero laborious proof by any means. His conviction was primarily based on nothing greater than unproven assertions by blockchain evaluation firm Chainalysis. The Samourai and Twister Money builders are being prosecuted underneath cash laundering laws for creating purely self custodial software program that, in no circumstances wherein their software program may very well be used, gave them any management over consumer funds. 

The truth that this isn’t solely not on the radar of any Congressman or Congresswoman who claims to be pro-Bitcoin, however not being loudly talked about, is absurd. 

So, let’s do one thing to alter that. I’m calling on each United States citizen studying this to take the shape letter beneath, fill it in appropriately, and ship it to your congressman or congresswoman — particularly if you’re in a district with a consultant claiming publicly to be pro-Bitcoin. 

This text is a Take. Opinions expressed are completely the creator’s and don’t essentially replicate these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal.

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[City, State, Zipcode]

[Email]

[Phone Number]

[Date]

The Consultant [or] Senator [Congressman or Congresswoman’s Name]

[Congressman/Congresswoman’s Address]

[City, State, Zipcode]

I’m writing as a involved citizen of [your State]. I want to deliver to your consideration a vital matter relating to the legal prosecution of open supply builders writing software program for the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill of Samourai Pockets, Roman Semenov and Roman Storm of Twister Money, are being prosecuted for numerous acts of or assertions of conspiracy to commit cash laundering. All 4 of those males have executed nothing however produce and publish open supply software program that was/is freely out there to the general public. 

A foundational actuality of decentralized networks like Bitcoin is the power their structure offers to their customers to work together and transact with their cash utilizing nothing however open-source and freely out there software program that communicates with a decentralized laptop community. When utilizing cryptocurrencies on this approach, nobody besides the tip consumer of the software program has any means to affect, management, or prohibit the switch of an individual’s property on these decentralized networks. 

All 4 of those males have executed nothing past produce and function freely out there open-source software program with the goal of serving to finish customers of those networks defend their private privateness. Individuals have a proper to privateness, particularly monetary privateness, which is why the Financial institution Secrecy Act mandates that monetary establishments take measures to guard the safety and confidentiality of American’s monetary data. 

Blockchains by their very nature, nonetheless, are public shops of knowledge. For everybody to ensure that the foundations of the decentralized community are being adopted correctly, everybody should be capable of obtain and confirm the whole lot of a blockchain’s transactional historical past. Everybody’s transactional historical past. This permits anybody who you transact with to see doubtlessly how a lot wealth you’ve, even to comply with and be taught of future transactions you make. 

This isn’t solely very delicate data to have within the public area typically, however it could possibly current a really severe threat to individuals’s bodily security. Incidents of kidnapping, bodily assault, and residential invasion with a purpose to steal bitcoin from personal people have elevated in frequency as its worth has elevated. 

Software program that allows customers to keep up their privateness whereas utilizing networks like Bitcoin is crucial, not solely to their privateness typically, but in addition to their bodily security. Each Samourai Pockets and Twister Money accomplish that in a purely self-custodial method, that means no entity apart from the tip customers themselves ever has management, or means to affect, the transactions which are made. This additionally signifies that there isn’t a authorized entity that the present expenses really apply to (i.e. a custodial monetary establishment topic to monetary rules). 

Individually, Roman Sterlingov has been convicted in legal court docket  of working a custodial mixing service used to realize privateness on the Bitcoin community. Whereas this service was custodial, and as such would have monetary regulatory obligations, the proof introduced at trial of Roman’s involvement in working this service is only circumstantial. Many particulars of the character of this proof, and its questionability, exist on the general public report from Sterlingov’s legal professional Tor Ekeland. 

I strongly urge you to analyze these issues, and take motion to right these extreme miscarriages of justice ensuing from the applying of nonapplicable monetary rules to open-source software program builders, and the whole flouting of the necessities to indicate proof behind an affordable doubt to realize conviction in a legal continuing. 

[Only include the bold if your congressman/congresswoman is publicly pro-Bitcoin]

That is extremely essential in relation to the liberty to make use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in a self-custodial and freedom-preserving approach. I hope to see your actions in Congress stay as much as your stance on public report in relation to Bitcoin as a coverage concern. 

Sincerely, 

[Your Name]