Jury Finds Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm Guilty of Money Transmitting Charge

Key Points

1. Roman Storm was convicted for conspiracy to commit sanctions evasion under Section 1960, while the jury deadlocked on money laundering and sanctions charges.

2. The case has connections to Russia, and federal prosecutors had not signaled whether they would push for a retrial as of 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

3. Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer, was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department in August 2022 for its use by criminal entities, including the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.

4. The jury heard arguments about Tornado Cash's role in laundering funds, including a case where a victim lost $250,000 to a scammer using the service.

5. Storm's defense argued that Tornado Cash was designed to provide privacy for legitimate users, but the government dismissed this as a cover for criminals.