Roman Storm, one of the minds behind Tornado Cash, has been found guilty by a Manhattan jury for running an unlicensed money transmitting business. The decision came after four weeks of testimony and debate. The charge alone could land him behind bars for up to five years. But this was just one part of a much bigger legal battle, and the rest of it isn’t over yet.
Jury Deadlocks on the Bigger Accusations
Storm was also facing accusations of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions, but the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on those. Both of those charges come with much heavier consequences, up to 20 years each if convicted. Since no final decision was reached, prosecutors may decide to bring those charges back to court for a retrial. His sentencing for the conviction that did go through hasn’t been scheduled yet.
The Tornado Cash trial has concluded.
Roman Storm has been found guilty of the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed MTB charge.
Here are my thoughts on the outcome, the government’s (rejected) motion to remand Storm, and what comes next. pic.twitter.com/T41TtEL9Kh
— Frank Corva (@frankcorva) August 6, 2025
Prosecutors Say Storm Helped Criminals Cover Their Tracks
Federal prosecutors didn’t pull punches. They argued that Tornado Cash wasn’t just a privacy tool, but a direct pipeline for dirty money to be cleaned. According to them, over a billion dollars moved through the mixer, much of it tied to criminals, scammers, and even North Korea’s Lazarus Group. The message from the government was clear: you can’t build a tool and turn a blind eye when it gets used by the worst actors online.
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The Defense Says It Was Just Code
Storm’s lawyers pushed back hard, arguing that he simply wrote code and published it as open-source software. In their view, it was no different than someone writing a tool that could be used for good or bad, and then stepping away from it. They said Storm never had control over who used it or for what purpose and wasn’t personally profiting from any of the activity prosecutors pointed to.
Evidence Painted a Complicated Picture
During the trial, prosecutors brought out forensic data and witness testimony that tied Tornado Cash to stolen crypto. One scammer testified that he used it to launder NFT proceeds. They even showed jurors Tornado Cash t-shirts with cartoon washing machines on them, hinting at the platform’s use as a digital money launderer. But despite all that, jurors still couldn’t unanimously say Storm was guilty of laundering or breaking sanctions.
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Big Implications for Developers
The outcome has sparked a new wave of anxiety among developers. If building open-source tools can lead to prison time, where do you draw the line? Plenty of crypto apps and protocols can be used for shady purposes, but are devs on the hook if bad actors show up? This case is adding fuel to a much bigger conversation about how far legal responsibility extends in decentralized environments.
Just One Case in a Larger Crackdown
Storm isn’t the only one under fire. His fellow Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted earlier this year in the Netherlands. And in the U.S., the people behind the Samourai Wallet mixer recently pleaded guilty to laundering hundreds of millions in illicit crypto. Regulators and law enforcement clearly aren’t letting this stuff slide anymore.
What Comes Next
Storm now faces sentencing, plus the possibility of another trial for the unresolved charges. His legal team plans to challenge the outcome. Whether or not the government retries the heavier counts, this case will likely stay in the spotlight. It’s become a benchmark for how the justice system approaches tools built for privacy but used by criminals. And for now, the line between developer and enabler remains blurred.
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Key Takeaways
- Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm was convicted of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and faces up to five years in prison.
- The jury could not reach a verdict on the more serious charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, which may be retried later.
- Prosecutors argued that Tornado Cash helped criminals, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group, launder over $1 billion in crypto.
- Storm’s defense maintained he simply wrote and published open-source code, without controlling or profiting from how it was used.
- The verdict has raised serious concerns for crypto developers about potential legal risks when building privacy tools used by bad actors.
The post Tornado Cash Founder Convicted of Unlicensed Money Transmitting appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
