Coin Center: Revised BRCA Drops Explicit Criminal Shield for Non-Custodial Developers

The distinction matters because it separates licensing exposure from substantive money-laundering exposure. Non-custodial developers may still face arguments that they knowingly transmitted criminal proceeds, the theory driving the Storm and Samourai prosecutions, even as the money-transmitter classification route narrows. For builders of privacy and self-custody tooling, the practical risk profile shifts rather than disappears. Whether prosecutors continue pursuing that theory, and whether later legislative text restores an explicit shield, is the open question worth tracking.