Tornado Cash creator Roman Storm found guilty on money transmitting charge, but not guilty on sanctions charge: Inner City Press

A jury in Manhattan found Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm guilty on a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitter, not guilty on a sanctions charge, but the jury could not come to a conclusion on a money laundering charge, according to reporting from Inner City Press.

The jury’s decision comes after a few days of deliberation, which ultimately resulted in a deadlock on Wednesday and a partial verdict. Judge Katherine Polk Failla for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who oversaw the case, said it was a “hard-fought case,” according to reporting from Inner City Press.

In 2023, Storm was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations for operating Tornado Cash. He could face decades in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Tornado Cash facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions and laundered millions of dollars for the Lazarus Group — a sanctioned North Korean hacker group.

During closing arguments this week, prosecutors said Storm knew what he was doing and made millions of dollars. They also said he knew about the hackers in North Korea, according to reporting from Inner City Press.

Storm’s lawyer said the co-founder did not want hackers to use Tornado Cash and that when he found out North Koreans used the crypto mixer, they were not celebratory and “dropped F-bombs,” according to Inner City Press.

Crypto advocates have rallied behind Storm, including the DeFi Education Fund, who say prosecutors threaten developers and digital privacy.

“Our position is clear: software developers of noncustodial peer-to-peer protocols do not exercise control or custody over user assets and are thus not running money transmitting businesses or financial institutions under the BSA [Bank Secrecy Act],” the organization said.

Storm also had support from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

“You created Tornado in significant part because of my suggestion that it is something worth building,” Buterin said in January on X. “It would violate basic honor for me to do that, and then fail to support you in your hour of need. In Ethereum we protect our own, and uphold our honor.”

Storm’s verdict comes after Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill pleaded guilty to two charges related to their mixer service last week.

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