Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, has been found guilty of operating an unlicensed money transfer service, despite the open-source and non-custodial nature of the protocol.
Un developer judged as a banker?
The hammer has fallen in Manhattan. Roman Storm, one of the developers of Tornado Cash, has been found guilty of operating an unlicensed money transfer business. However, the jury could not decide on the two most serious charges: money laundering and violation of international sanctions. A mixed verdict, but one that sends a message with significant consequences to the crypto ecosystem.
Storm did not operate a centralized platform or customer accounts. He contributed to the development of an open-source financial privacy protocol. Yet, U.S. authorities considered this enough to label him a ‘money transmitter,’ a designation usually reserved for companies like Western Union or PayPal.
This specific point has sparked controversy since the beginning of the case. According to many legal experts in the sector, including Alex Urbelis from the Ethereum Name Service, this decision reflects a profound misunderstanding:
The jury did not grasp the difference between a non-custodial tool like Tornado Cash and a traditional financial services platform. This verdict should have been impossible.
Grave accusations… but lacking sufficient evidence
Storm was also accused of aiding cybercriminals, including the North Korean group Lazarus, in laundering over a billion dollars through Tornado Cash. These accusations, widely circulated since 2023, were based on a formidable logic: holding developers accountable for the illicit uses of their code.
Yet, after four days of deliberation and two ‘Allen charges’ (procedures aimed at forcing a verdict), the jury remained divided. The trial thus ended with only one conviction and a huge question mark for the future.
No prison (for now), but the threat looms
The prosecution sought to immediately imprison Storm, citing his Kazakh origins and alleged ability to flee. However, Judge Failla was not convinced. Storm, an American citizen living in Seattle and father of a five-year-old girl, remains free on bail pending further proceedings.
‘He has every reason to stay and fight,’ the judge ruled. A statement that encapsulates the mindset of Storm’s supporters, determined to appeal.
The specter of Tornado Cash jurisprudence
This verdict comes at a crucial moment: just a week after the developers of Samourai Wallet pleaded guilty in a similar case to avoid harsher sentences. There is a significant risk of establishing a dangerous legal precedent for open-source software developers.
Amanda Tuminelli, from the DeFi Education Fund, denounces a ‘fundamentally flawed charge’ and calls on the new DOJ under Trump to drop the remaining charges. The trial of Roman Storm is not over. However, one thing is certain: the stakes go far beyond his personal case. The entire boundary between coding freedom and criminal liability is being redrawn, with the hammer of justice at work.
