Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did he just create the code or also manage the infrastructure and services through which the transactions happen? The former - I don’t think anyone could convict him. It’s just code in a git repo somewhere. The latter - he is responsible for kyc like all other financial applications.
My understanding is that he wrote the code for the smart contracts and open sourced it on GitHub. The contracts were compiled and deployed to the Ethereum network. There was no infrastructure/service controlled by him responsible for running the code or processing the transactions. The core contract, once deployed to Ethereum; could not be modified or deleted by anyone. The only "infrastructure" in the traditional se…
If he had not deployed anything and it was just code in his repo I would have said this is a really dangerous ruling. It opens up every open source dev to be on the hook for any use of their software.
On the other hand if this was something deployed then it becomes much more subjective.