Tornado Cash co-founder found guilty in partial verdict after 3-week trial

A Manhattan jury found Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm guilty of charges related to conspiracy to run an unlicensed money business.

In a Wednesday decision in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Storm was found guilty of one felony charge related to his role at Tornado Cash, according to court reports from Inner City Press.

The jury convicted Roman on conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmittal business, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison. No unanimity on conspiracy to commit money laundering nor on conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions.

The prosecutor’s case focused on presenting witnesses, mainly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and hackers, who testified that Storm had the ability to modify Tornado Cash’s code to prevent illicit use by criminals but chose not to. Storm’s legal team put forth its own experts, including Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon and NAXO co-founder Matthew Edman.

The Tornado Cash co-founder was indicted in August 2023 for money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. Storm pleaded not guilty and had been free on bail since his arraignment.

Related: What you need to know about Roman Storm’s Tornado Cash trial

Will Roman Storm serve time in prison?

Judge Katherine Failla reportedly said during Storm’s trial that she was being mindful of other crypto-related cases, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain, and OneCoin co-founder Karl Greenwood. All three, whose cases were litigated in SDNY, were sentenced to serve time in prison.

Storm’s sentencing hearing is yet to be scheduled, and prior to and throughout the trial, Storm claimed he was innocent of the charges.

His X profile page has stated since at least March that he was “a proud United States citizen targeted by Biden’s administration and SDNY for writing open source code.”

Supporters of the Tornado Cash co-founder contributed more than $3 million to his legal defense fund. Among those who donated the most were Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Paradigm founder Matt Huang and the Ethereum Foundation.

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Additional reporting by Vince Quill

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