Is there anything in judgement that limits this to cryptocurrency?
I could see this precedent being used to shut down open source projects in end-to-end encryption, BitTorrent, etc.
While I have no knowledge of Tornado Cash itself, I hope an organization like the EFF would help appeal this to mitigate the larger danger. I believe there are precedents that publishing source code is protected under the first amendment (code is writing).
This, by the way, is another thing I dislike about crypto. The obvious need to regulate it could jeopardise the fragile consensus we currently have on private e2ee communication being allowed.
In other words, the reckless behaviour of today's crypto operators could lead to a fresh round of the 1990's crypto wars (when "crypto" meant cryptography), but with a different (worse) outcome.
I’m just glad this isn’t a US court ruling. USA has a strange habit of enforcing its laws overseas - see the Kim Dotcom debacle where US laws were used to prosecute someone who was not a US citizen and never set foot in the USA.
I could see this precedent being used to shut down open source projects in end-to-end encryption, BitTorrent, etc.
While I have no knowledge of Tornado Cash itself, I hope an organization like the EFF would help appeal this to mitigate the larger danger. I believe there are precedents that publishing source code is protected under the first amendment (code is writing).
This is distinct from operating a service.