Tornado Cash Saga Ends: Roman Storm Convicted in Landmark Crypto Trial

Published 8 months ago• 1 minute read

David Isong

Tornado Cash Saga Ends: Roman Storm Convicted in Landmark Crypto Trial

The Tornado Cash trial, a case with high-stakes implications for developers of noncustodial Bitcoin and crypto technology, as well as privacy-preserving software, has concluded with a significant verdict. Amanda Tuminelli, executive director and chief legal officer for the DeFi Education Fund, highlighted the charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, particularly focusing on the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Tuminelli, an expert on 18 U.S. Code § 1960, the federal law prohibiting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, argued that Storm had not violated this statute in creating and operating Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based crypto mixing service.

Discussions around the trial also involved the CLARITY Act and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), both of which include language protecting developers of