A jury in Manhattan recognized the co -founder of Tornado Cash, novel Storm, guilty of illegal exploitation of a money transmission company. On the other hand, he failed to agree on the more serious accusations of money laundering and violations of sanctions linked to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus.
In short
- The co -founder of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, was found guilty of illegal exploitation of a money transmission company, while the jury remained shared on the accusations of money laundering and violations of sanctions.
- Prosecutors argued that Tornado Cash had facilitated the laundering of $ 1 billion, especially for the benefit of the North Korean group Lazarus, which Storm denied having known.
- Figures from the crypto, including Vitalik Buterin and the DEFI EDUCATION FUND, have defended, alerting to the risks that this dossier makes weigh on open source development and digital life.
A shared verdict
Charged in 2023, Storm was accused of having facilitated more than $ 1 billion in illicit transactions via Tornado Cash, a crypto confidentiality protocol. Prosecutors claim that millions of dollars have been laundered via this tool by Lazarus, a sanctioned entity involved in several major cyber attacks.
The trial, supervised by judge Katherine Polk Failla in the South New York district, resulted in a partial verdict After several days of deliberations. If the jury selected that Storm operated an unauthorized money transmission service, he could not conclude that he had knowingly participated in money laundering or breaking the American legislation on sanctions.
According to the accusation, Storm was aware of the use of the tool by North Korean actors and would have taken advantage of it. During the final arguments, the prosecutors said that Storm “Knowed what he was doing” And “Had won millions”.
The defense of Storm replied that neither he nor his co -founders had never intended to see Tornado cash used by hackers. “They swore when they discovered it”argued the defense, in reference to their internal reaction after the discovery of Lazarus' involvement.
Crypto industry is united with Storm
Storm has become a symbol of the debate, within the Crypto community, around the responsibility of developers and the protection of financial confidentiality.
Influential voices, such as the DEFI EDUCATION FUND or the co-founder of Ethereum VITALIK BUTERIN, have publicly defended Storm, believing that non-CUSTODIAL software developers should not be held responsible for the use of open-source tools. The DEFI EDUCATION FUND recalled:
Our position is clear: the developers of non-custodial peer-to-peer protocols do not exercise neither control nor guard on user assets. They do not direct money transmission companies within the meaning of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Vitalik Buterin, for his part, took a more personal position:
You have created Tornado in large part thanks to my suggestion … It would be dishonorable that I do not support you at the moment difficult. In Ethereum, we protect ours.
Major implications for industry
This verdict comes as another hard blow recently struck the Crypto confidentiality tools: last week, the founders of Samurai Wallet, a Bitcoin mixer, pleaded guilty of money laundering.
The Storm affair is closely followed for its impact on the future development of open-source crypto, in particular confidentiality-oriented protocols. If the conviction for unauthorized transmission could be worth several years in prison in Storm, the dismissal on the more serious accusations leaves the door open to other judicial battles.
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