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New York, New York-Entrust Cash Developer Cash Developer Roman Storm is a criminal money laundering to start Manhattan on Monday morning, when Storm’s lawyers and prosecutors start collecting the jury to supervise the Storm’s four-week court.
Storm was arrested in Washington in 2023 and charged with a conspiracy for committing money, plot for violating US sanctions and plot to operate unlicensed trade in transfer – fees that the storm is convicted. Storm’s Tornado Cash Developer, Russian National Roman Semenov, faces the same fees, but remains free. Another developer, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted of washing money in the Netherlands in 2024 and sentenced to five years in prison, which is Currently attractive.
In the heart of Storm’s case lies Cash Tornado Cash, a privacy oriented to the protection of cryptocurrency, which the government claimed to have been used to wash more than $ 1 billion in criminal income, including the Lazarus group, with a North Korean state concerning hacker operations, which is a violation of US sanctions and his colleagues and his colleagues. Storm’s lawyers in the meantime have argued that he was simply a developer of open-source decentralized software With legitimate, retaining privacy uses who should not be responsible for the use of bad actors.
“There will certainly be a very energetic defense that they wrote the code and that.” [Tornado Cash] was designed for privacy – that some people could use it but [Storm and his colleagues] There were no conspirators, ”said Mark Bini, a partner in the global regulatory and coercive group Reed Smith.” Mixers were very controversial because they were also used by many people who do bad things about it, but the idea that some people want to use them for privacy.
Storm’s trial attracted the attention of many in the cryptovisku who have fears This, if Storm is found guilty, this could mean that developers on the line are on the hook For how people use their programs – something that could have devastating consequences both for the availability of privacy tools and for decentralized finances (Defi) space as a whole. Many main players in the field, including the paradigm of the investment company and non -profit lawyer groups COIN Center and Defi Education Fund, presented the Amicus Briefs in the defense of Storm.
Others, however, reluctant to accept Storm’s privacy defense. Economic writer JP Koenig wrote in Blog post 2024 If the storm won the court, it could “potentially mean that anyone who wants to facilitate illegal activities should copy tornado cash and effectively transform his” golem ” – without death that would deal with intelligent treaties – and then throw away the keys to prevent the law.”
Swiss Blockchain Analytics company Global Ledger wrote in blog post that there are generally “many more reasons why cybernetic criminals might want to use a mixing service than developers who legitimately want to reverse the movement of their personal means.”
Shift
Storm’s court begins when the US government continues to rework its approach to the cryptal industry – especially cryptological regulation. Under US President Donald Trump, the White House captivated a more friendly attitude toward industry (which poured an incredible $ 130 million In the Congress races in the elections by 2024 and at least $ 18 million only in the Trump inauguration committee only), holding the regulators and the enforcement of the right to do the same.
Since he joined the office in January, the US Securities and Stock Exchange Commission and Stock Exchange captivated the status of a similar bogeyman under former chairman Gary Gensler for the so-called “regulation practice”-created a crypt working group friendly in industry and abandoned open cases and investigations. IN APRIL MEMO for employeesDeputy Prosecutor Todd Blanche ordered the US Ministry of Justice (Impressed) Employees to “narrow” their focus on crypto crime and order them that the agency will no longer charge regulatory violations in cases concerning the crypto.
Although some speculated that prosecutors would withdraw from their case against Storm as a result of Blansche’s remark, The government has promoted aheaddropping only one part of one fee. The prosecutors also decided to continue their case against Storm in March after the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Association (Ofac) Tornado excluded cash from their list of sanctioned entities after the federal judge ruled that the agency could not penalize an intelligent contract.
“Frankly, I was a little surprised that it was going forward after we saw it.” [Tornado Cash] has been taken from the List ofac, ”Bini said. And it looks like the one that is on the edges of it because the plot for the operation of unlicensed money transfer [charge] It looks like a type of regulatory case that the administration of business will get. ”
Storm in an attempt
During the preliminary conference last week, the district judge Katherine Polk Failla in the South District of New York (Sdny) He decided that no party could trigger the Sanctions ofCAC – either that Tornado cash was sanctioned in the first place, or that the sanctions were subsequently removed – during Storm’s trial, he claims to confuse the jury. Failla also decided that none of the parties could mention the result of the related civil case van Loon vs. Department of Treasury.
Bini said Coindesk that Failille’s decision to prevent of off -law sanctions outside of court proceedings is likely to help the government case more than Storm.
If the defense could tell the jury that the sanctions were later reduced, Bini said, “I think the jurors will be more likely to say,” God, I’m not sure if it’s illegal or not. “
Bini said that if the court results in convicted, Fail’s decision is potential reasons for Storm lawyers to appeal.
“Defense can say,” Hey, we had the right to give it to the jury, we think this is important evidence, “he said.
If the jury finds a wine storm, Bini said that there could be another possibility beyond the appeal – presidential grace. Trump has forgun a number of people since he joined the office in January, including the co -founders of the founder Bitmex and Silk Road Ross Ulbricht.
“Let’s say it results in beliefs, it does not mean that the president may not be involved,” Bini said. “It’s a little wild card we could see if the case resulted in belief.”
At the Final Conference on Personcy Proceedings on Friday, Storm’s lawyers made the last effort to release the case after the government revealed that its theory of venue venue (In principle, the justification of prosecution is to bring the case in the southern district of New York) Storm’s interview with New York-with the seat of Bloomberg Reporter and the fact that the hacker approached Tornado from New York, was hung on three evidence-storm texts for risk capitalists based in New York.
Failla eventually decided against the proposal of defense and allowed the government case against Storm to continue in court.
The next four weeks
Storm’s court, originally scheduled for two weeks, is expected to take place for a month due to a mere number of witnesses in this case. The government itself told the court that it was planning to call more than 20 people to testify, including a hacker who used Tornado cash, the so -called “victim” of witnesses and many experts.
It is expected that the jury selection will take two days, and the initial arguments are probably planned on Wednesday.
Storm has not yet indicated whether to testify in its own defense, but Bini said it could be a great help in his defense.
“I think there is a really good chance.” [Storm] will testify. If so, [he’s] will have to endure some really stiff cross [examination]But that could be really powerful in such a case, ”Bini said. [defense]But they may want to take a position and tell the jury their story. ”
