Coin Center: Trump DOJ’s Mixed Signals Put Crypto Developers in 'Very Bad State'
On March 26, 2026, Coin Center’s executive director warned that the Trump DOJ’s public statement promising not to prosecute cryptocurrency software developers has not matched enforcement reality, leaving many projects and contributors in a “very bad state.” Though officials said prosecutions would not target developers, recent actions and ambiguous enforcement signals have nonetheless implicated developers, creating confusion about legal exposure for writing open‑source code.
That inconsistency matters because it chills development, hiring and investment across the U.S. crypto ecosystem and pushes talent and projects to safer jurisdictions. Coin Center is calling for clear, binding legal rules—either legislative protections or explicit DOJ policy—to restore certainty and protect benign software development. Without that clarity, industry participants say innovation and security work will continue to be at risk.