In a paper published today in The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, DEF’s @atuminelli along with @jchervinsky & @dbarabander from 
@variant take a deep dive into the law on unlicensed money transmitting businesses, 8 U.S.C. § 1960, and argue that, based on an extensive review of the case law and statutory history, control over customer funds is necessary to define an entity as a “money transmitting business” - a business that “transfers funds on behalf of the public.” 🧵👇

first-check crypto vc, investing in an internet that turns users into owners. some of our channels….. /variant /0to1 /web2web3

GC and Investment Partner @variant | ex software engineer/@ycombinator founder, attorney Cravath | casts are not legal advice | I am not your lawyer

Chief Legal Officer at DeFi Education Fund @fund-defi. Human to bader the dog. Avid reader of fantasy fiction. Constantly seeking excellent food.

In a paper published today in The International Academy of Financial Crime Litigators, DEF’s @atuminelli along with @jchervinsky & @dbarabander from 
@variant take a deep dive into the law on unlicensed money transmitting businesses, 8 U.S.C. § 1960, and argue that, based on an extensive review of the case law and statutory history, control over customer funds is necessary to define an entity as a “money transmitting business” - a business that “transfers funds on behalf of the public.” 🧵👇

https://www.defieducationfund.org/post/def-publishes-new-paper-in-in-the-international-academy-of-financial-crime-litigators

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3/ With the advent of permissionless, disintermediated blockchain technology, a new tension arose between the reality of this tech and the government’s focus on preventing crime. While the government has historically relied on the Bank Secrecy Act, the government has recently relied on Section 1960 more and more to address money laundering. While the paper is about Section 1960 more generally, it uses Tornado Cash as a case study for legal analysis.

4/ Section 1960 is at the center of the Tornado Cash and Samurai Wallet criminal cases. Given the upcoming Storm trial in April, where the government will have to prove Storm violated Section 1960 among other criminal code provisions, the argument in this paper is central to important legal issues facing the digital asset industry.

5/ Lastly, and importantly, the paper calls on Congress to change the law, specifically by amending section 1960 to clarify the original intention: “only those who knowingly control criminal funds should be treated as criminals themselves.”

It’s no secret. The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) has been a mainstay of policy debates around crypto more broadly in the United States.

That is why DEF’s Lizandro Pieper and Gavin Zavatone decided to do a deep dive 🧵 👇 

https://www.defieducationfund.org/_files/ugd/84ba66_a568e222f78048e2a8625abb76d3b0fc.pdf

end/ Be sure to check out another recent paper from the DEF team on the BSA.

end/ Be sure to check out another recent paper from the DEF team on the BSA. 

https://warpcast.com/fund-defi/0x37fe0ccf