Contract devs don't execute the code. They simply broadcast the it to the Ethereum network. Deploying a contract is conceptually no different than publishing source code to GitHub. It's actually the Ethereum node operators that execute the code. (Hence why the contract devs can't stop a running smart contract.)

If you want to make the argument that the persons executing the code are liable, than it should be the Ethereum network nodes, not the developer who deployed the smart contract. As it stands, it's pretty unlikely that the Treasury department has the political capital or the operational reach to shut down Ethereum. And that's why blockchain is different.

Given that the treasury department has frozen Tornado, and generally made the whole project persona non grata, I believe your theory here is fairly thoroughly debunked.

Trying to find a loophole in the law by trickery is why we use human courts - the judge can still find you guilty and punish the living crap out of you for abetting money laundering.

> Given that the treasury department has frozen Tornado

They haven't though. Tornado Cash is still happily running. If you post your address here, some kind soul might even send you some ETH via Tornado Cash right now. They have asked regulated financial institutions to not receive ETH that came directly from Tornado Cash. That's it; that's all that they can do. While that puts a damper on people converting directly between ETH and USD at such institutions, it does bugger all for people conducting small/informal transactions

There hasn't been a court case yet. Not even a judicial hearing. The article we're commenting on is about how there's a very good chance that courts will disagree. This SCOTUS has repeatedly shown a willingness to restrict executive overreach in the Biden administration.

In the case of Tornado Cash, the person who wrote and published the code isn't the person executing it.