Open Source Developer or Criminal Accomplice? Jury Only Convicted on One Charge.

Written by: ChandlerZ, Foresight News

On August 6, 2025, a federal jury in Manhattan, New York, found Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, guilty in a criminal case. The verdict immediately sparked strong attention and reactions throughout the crypto industry.

Storm was charged with three counts: conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions against North Korea. After three weeks of deliberation, the jury could not reach a consensus on the first two felony charges, only rendering a guilty verdict on the "unlicensed money transfer business" charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Tornado Cash is a non-custodial privacy tool deployed on Ethereum that allows users to obfuscate transaction paths through smart contracts. It utilizes zero-knowledge proof (zk-SNARKs) technology, where users first deposit funds and then complete withdrawals through a voucher, thereby concealing the source and destination of the funds. Tornado Cash itself does not hold funds and cannot be altered or shut down once deployed.

In August 2022, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed Tornado Cash on its sanctions list, accusing it of being used by hacker groups like Lazarus for money laundering. However, in March 2025, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that OFAC had overstepped its authority, stating that smart contracts are not property and cannot be sanctioned, leading OFAC to revoke the sanctions against Tornado Cash and remove related Ethereum addresses. Nevertheless, Roman Storm's legal troubles were far from over.

Verdict Announcement Sparks Controversy Over Legal and Technical Boundaries

Roman Storm is a software engineer and one of the early developers in the crypto industry. He is best known as one of the co-founders of Tornado Cash. Storm, along with another co-founder, Roman Semenov, developed the project, which was officially launched in 2019. Since its launch, Tornado Cash has attracted a large number of users, including attackers, scammers, and even state-sponsored hacker organizations.

After the release of Tornado Cash, Storm was primarily responsible for building and maintaining the front-end interface, writing technical documentation, giving media interviews, and promoting the project in its early stages. He publicly supported blockchain privacy technology, emphasizing personal financial autonomy. In 2023, Storm was arrested by the U.S. Department of Justice, becoming the first developer to be prosecuted in the Tornado Cash case.

The U.S. Department of Justice accused Storm and other developers of continuing to maintain the system despite knowing that Tornado Cash was being misused, and of assisting in the anonymous transfer of funds through "front-end services" and promotional documentation. The prosecution pointed out that organizations, including the Lazarus Group, used Tornado Cash to launder over $1 billion.

During the trial, the prosecution presented a photo of Storm wearing a "money laundering" themed T-shirt, attempting to prove that he was fully aware of the use of the funds. The jury ultimately could not reach a consensus on the money laundering and sanctions charges, leading the court to declare a mistrial on these two counts.

After the verdict, the prosecution proposed that Storm be detained, citing his birthplace in a former Soviet country (Kazakhstan) and claiming he "has the means to flee." Judge Katherine Failla denied this request, stating that Storm holds a U.S. passport, has lived in Seattle for a long time, and lives with his young daughter, posing no flight risk.

Storm remains out on bail, and a sentencing date has yet to be determined. His lawyers stated that they plan to challenge the conviction and file an appeal.

Questions Raised Over Developer Responsibility, Crypto Industry Reacts Strongly

Following the verdict, several organizations in the crypto industry quickly expressed their views, questioning the classification of "unlicensed money transfer." The focus of the controversy centered on one question: Should open-source developers be held legally responsible for how others use their code?

The DeFi Education Fund stated on X: "We regret that the jury failed to recognize that Storm could not control the actions of third parties." The organization emphasized, "Software developers should have the right to write and deploy decentralized financial tools, including protocols with privacy features."

Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director of Coin Center, also deemed the charge "inappropriate" and called for an immediate appeal. He stated that Coin Center would use all available resources to push the case into the next phase of review.

The Blockchain Association called the verdict "disappointing" and warned of a chilling effect on all open-source software developers: "We urge Storm to appeal and stand ready to support him."

Several independent legal experts also weighed in on the case. Brian Klein, a partner at Waymaker LLP and Storm's defense attorney, stated, "The core issue of this case is whether an author can be put on trial because someone else did something bad with a piece of code." He believes that current laws do not apply to non-custodial systems like Tornado Cash and plans to continue legal challenges against the charge.

Alex Urbelis, legal counsel for Ethereum Name Service, also pointed out that the jury may not have fully understood how non-custodial protocols operate. He stated, "If the jury understood that Tornado Cash does not control user assets, there should not have been this conviction."

Next Steps for Retrial Remain Unclear, Appeal Preparations Underway

Although the two charges on which Storm was not convicted are temporarily set aside, the case is far from over. The prosecution has yet to decide whether to pursue a retrial on the "money laundering" and "sanctions violation" charges, but many predict that, given the jury's prolonged inability to reach a consensus, the Department of Justice may choose to drop these two charges.

Storm's response has been defiant. After the verdict, he quoted Trump, stating he would "fight, fight, fight." His defense team indicated that Storm would continue to contest the case in court and called for industry solidarity to address the unclear regulatory issues.

Since Trump's administration, there has been a tendency to weaken regulations on crypto businesses, with several significant lawsuits being withdrawn or paused earlier this year. The Storm case has become one of the few major cases still progressing. However, prior to this case, two developers from Samourai Wallet pleaded guilty last week, also facing charges related to "unlicensed money transfer." This development has raised greater vigilance within the crypto industry regarding the current strategies of judicial authorities.

Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at crypto investment firm Variant, pointed out that this conviction could provide a basis for future enforcement by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He believes that if a developer is sentenced for writing code, it would create significant uncertainty for the entire open-source community.

Currently, Storm's defense team is preparing appeal materials, aiming to overturn the verdict. Organizations supporting him are also reaching out to other legal experts and policy advocates, planning to push for clearer guidelines at the legislative level.

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