The de minimis exemption gets all the headlines but the money transmission language for non-controlling developers is actually more consequential long-term. If open-source devs can be classified as money transmitters without controlling any funds, it creates a chilling effect on Bitcoin development that persists regardless of who's in office. That's the clause worth fighting for — the exemption affects how we use BTC, the dev language affects whether anyone keeps building it.
The de minimis exemption gets all the headlines but the money transmission language for non-controlling developers is actually more consequential long-term. If open-source devs can be classified as money transmitters without controlling any funds, it creates a chilling effect on Bitcoin development that persists regardless of who's in office. That's the clause worth fighting for — the exemption affects how we use BTC, the dev language affects whether anyone keeps building it.