Well, the storm has officially hit. Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, was found guilty on the second count of his indictment in the Southern District of New York. The charge? Operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, so yeah, not exactly a slap on the wrist. He now faces up to five years behind bars.
The Tornado Cash trial has concluded.
— Frank Corva (@frankcorva) August 6, 2025
Roman Storm has been found guilty of the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed MTB charge.
Here are my thoughts on the outcome, the government’s (rejected) motion to remand Storm, and what comes next. pic.twitter.com/T41TtEL9Kh
But don’t pack his bags just yet; while the jury found him guilty on the money transmission charge, they couldn’t come to a unanimous decision on the other two counts. Storm dodged a bullet (for now) on conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. Talk about mixed signals!
After three and a half days of deliberation, the jury came back with a guilty verdict on the money transmitting charge. The trial kicked off last month, and it didn’t end well for Storm. So, what now? A potential five-year stint in the clink.
Judge Says No to Storm's Remand After Guilty Verdict
In the aftermath of the guilty verdict, the prosecution was all ready to throw Storm into custody, claiming he was a flight risk. But Storm’s defense lawyer, Ms. Klein, wasn’t having it. She pointed out that Storm’s home in Washington state was tied up in a $2 million bail bond, he has partial custody of his daughter, and his family (including his green card-holding parents) are all in the U.S. Plus, the crypto community still has his back, well, hopefully.
The prosecution tried to argue that now that Storm has been convicted, he’s got a new incentive to flee. But the judge wasn’t buying it. She noted that the “stability of the verdict” was still up in the air, likely referring to the fact that Storm plans to appeal the decision. And with that, she rejected the motion to remand him. Guess Storm’s staying put for now.
U.S. Attorney Chimes In on Tornado Cash Verdict
Right after the verdict was handed down, U.S. Attorney for the SDNY, Jay Clayton, was quick to make his feelings known. He didn’t hold back, saying:
“Roman Storm and Tornado Cash provided a service for North Korean hackers and other criminals to move and hide more than $1 billion of dirty money.”
He added that while digital assets like stablecoins hold great promise, they’re not an excuse for criminal behavior. According to Clayton, criminals who use these technologies for illicit activities undermine public trust and cast a shadow over those innovators who actually follow the rules. Classic “bad apple” speech, right?
Clayton made it clear that the U.S. is committed to holding people accountable who exploit emerging technologies for crime. But of course, he conveniently skipped over the memo from U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said that the U.S. Department of Justice would no longer target virtual currency mixing services for the actions of their end users. Funny how that was left out of the conversation.
Kristian Koch
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