- Jury convicted Roman Storm of conspiracy to run unlicensed money transmission; faces up to five years and $250k fine.
- Jury deadlocked on money laundering and sanctions charges; government has not yet decided on retrial or resolution path yet.
A jury convicted Roman Storm, founder of Tornado Cash, of conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmission operation. The verdict carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or twice the value of the involved funds. Storm faced additional counts of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions, but the jury could not reach unanimous decisions on those charges.
Storm argued that his software merely provided a privacy tool and that he could not control how others used it. His defense stressed that he built a protocol, not a criminal enterprise. Yet the court found enough evidence to hold him accountable for the unlicensed business charge.
Judge: Let me see it…
Deputy: Mr. Foreperson, Count 1, how do you find?
Foreperson: Not unanimous.
Deputy 2: Count 2?
Foreperson: Guilty.
Deputy: Count 3, IEEPA?
Foreperson: Not guilty.— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) August 6, 2025
Immediately after the verdict, federal prosecutors asked the court to revoke Storm’s bail and order him into custody. They described him as a flight risk given his access to at least $10 million in cryptocurrency and previous comments about exploiting immigration loopholes. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arad said Storm had “advised people how to circumvent the immigration system,” arguing that public safety and case integrity required detention.
Storm’s lawyer countered that he complied with all bail conditions. She noted that he surrendered his passport, that his family—including his five-year-old daughter—relied on his presence, and that his ties to the United States were strong. She pointed out that his only crypto access on bail came through court-approved transactions for tax obligations.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denied the prosecution’s request to detain Storm. She observed that the maximum sentence for the lone conviction aligned with Storm’s incentive to remain for appeal rather than flee. The judge deemed the $1 million bond and the pending legal battles sufficient to secure his appearance.
The trial has drawn significant attention from the crypto community. ETHNews see the verdict as a test of privacy rights and the reach of financial regulations over decentralized technology. As Storm prepares his defense for the unresolved counts, the case will continue to shape the relationship between regulators and open-source projects.
