Van Loon v. Treasury: Can the Government Actually Ban Code?

Is software code a 'person' or 'property'? The U.S. Treasury thought so when they sanctioned Tornado Cash, but a landmark appeals court ruling just flipped the script. In Van Loon v. Treasury, the court decided that autonomous code can’t be 'owned' - and that means the government just lost its most powerful weapon against decentralized finance. Today, we’re breaking down why this changes everything for your privacy and the future of crypto.Thanks for joining me for this episode! I’m a Houston- based attorney, run an HR Consulting company called Claremont Management Group, and am a tenured professor at the University of St. Thomas. I’ve also written several non-fiction political commentary books: Bad Deal for America (2022) explores the Vegas-style corruption running rampant in Washington DC, while The Decline of America: 100 Years of Leadership Failures (2018) analyzes – and grades – the leadership qualities of the past 100 years of U.S. presidents. You can find my books on Amazon, and me on social media (Twitter @DSchein1, LinkedIn @DavidSchein, and Facebook, Instagram, & YouTube @AuthorDavidSchein). I’d love to hear from you!As always, the opinions expressed in this podcast are mine and my guests’ and not the opinions of my university, my company, or the businesses with which I am connected.