CP_25-016: Is Tornado Cash Founder Roman Storm Guilty or Innocent?

Coinage has been covering the action from the NYC courthouse where Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm is facing several charges relating to the money mixer he and his co-founders launched in 2019.

If you were a juror in the trial considering the facts uncovered thus far and forced to decide today, how would you rule on Roman Storm and the charges he faces?

As a community-owned outlet committed to delivering thoughtful, responsible coverage for our members and the broader Web3 ecosystem, Coinage recognizes that our role extends far beyond chasing clicks or traffic. With our rapid growth as one of the leading U.S.-based Web3 media platforms, we carry a responsibility to use our platform with intention and care.

This proposal seeks to come to a consensus of opinion on the Roman Storm case that reflects the sentiment among our membership. To use Roman Storm's own words about his confidence in taking his case as an American to a public trial: "It gives me confidence that we have the people here ... We are the people."

We leave the official legal ruling to the jurors in the courtroom, but in the court of public opinion as the people's community-owned media outlet — we lean on your judgement.

Context on Proposal 25-017

Roman Storm, a developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash — a decentralized privacy protocol — faces serious federal charges related to sanctions violations and money laundering.

Specifically, Storm faces a trio of charges — including conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transferring business, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — that have been significantly narrowed by a new DOJ memo that was implemented after President Trump came into office. As described by the lawyers at Steptoe:

• The DOJ's decision follows an April memorandum issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche instructing prosecutors to cease "regulation by prosecution" of the digital asset industry and revelations that FinCEN had told DOJ that a similar non-custodial privacy-enhancing service was unlikely to be a money transmitter under FinCEN's standard "control" analysis (though the question of "functional" or constructive control went unaddressed).

• The relevant statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1960, contains three potential violations involving an "unlicensed money transmitting business": (1) failure to comply with a state money transmission licensing requirement (1960(b)(1)(A)), (2) failure to register with FinCEN as a money transmitter (1960(b)(1)(B)), and (3) conduct that otherwise involves the transportation or transmission of funds that are known to the defendant to have been derived from a criminal offense or are intended to be used to promote or support unlawful activity (1960(b)(1)(C)). Storm was initially charged with violations of (b)(1)(B) and (b)(1)(C).

• In short, the recent declination of one charge in the Tornado Cash case reflects an immediate implementation of the Blanche Memo, which de-criminalizes "pure" lack of registration, while maintaining DOJ's view that even non-custodial platforms may face scrutiny or prosecution as money services businesses in instances involving allegations that those platforms facilitate the movement of criminal proceeds.

Given that — if you were a juror in the trial considering the facts uncovered thus far and forced to decide today, how would you rule on Roman Storm and the charges he faces?   

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