Tornado Cash: Criminalizing Code

Roman Storm, developer of Tornado Cash, faces 45 years in federal prison on conspiracy charges for writing privacy-preserving code. The trial, which began July 14th in Manhattan, centers on whether creating non-custodial privacy software makes developers liable for criminal use. Prosecutors claim Storm laundered over $1 billion, including $455 million from North Korea's Lazarus Group, despite Tornado Cash being immutable smart contracts that developers couldn't control after burning admin keys.
The government's case has significant flaws.

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They misrepresented evidence, incorrectly attributing a CoinDesk reporter's quote to Storm. FinCEN's own guidance states that only services with independent control over funds qualify as money transmitters, which Tornado Cash never had. After Coin Center successfully challenged OFAC's sanctions against Tornado Cash in March 2025, the government dropped their appeal days before trial.

This case threatens established precedent from Bernstein v. Department of Justice that source code is protected First Amendment speech. If prosecutors succeed, any developer whose code is used illegally could face conspiracy charges.

The Southern District of New York's theory would make VPN developers, encryption programmers, and open-source contributors potentially liable for criminal use of their software, fundamentally changing how privacy tools are developed and distributed in America.

☆-----☆-----☆-----☆-----☆ CHAPTERS ☆-----☆-----☆-----☆-----☆

00:00 Anarchist Theory: State Criminalizes Privacy Tools
00:46 Roman Storm's Trial Begins
01:28 The Money Transmitter Charge
02:42 Burning the Admin Keys
03:23 The Billion Dollar Laundering Claims
03:59 Legitimate Use Cases Ignored
05:03 Prosecutors Caught Manufacturing Evidence
06:13 Every Developer at Risk
07:39 Conspiracy Charges as a Weapon
09:00 Judge Questions WhatsApp Comparison
09:48 OFAC Sanctions Ruled Illegal
10:30 Code as Protected Speech
11:52 Banks Launder Billions, Developers Get Prison
14:31 The Government Admits Defeat
17:11 The Chilling Effect Begins

#tornadocash #RomanStorm

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