⚖️ Roman Storm Convicted — Crypto Privacy and Dev Rights on the Line

[cryptoenthusiast]

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm has been convicted of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business — and the crypto world is sounding the alarm.

Why this matters:
Storm’s conviction could set a dangerous legal precedent for open-source developers, especially those building non-custodial privacy tools.

🧑‍ What is Tornado Cash?
A decentralized, open-source protocol launched in 2019 to protect transaction privacy by breaking onchain links between wallets.
It never held custody over user funds — but prosecutors say Storm was still liable for how others used it.

️ The charges:

✅ Guilty: Operating an unlicensed money transmission business

❌ Hung jury: Money laundering conspiracy

❌ Hung jury: Violating U.S. sanctions

Prosecutors may retry the hung charges. Storm now faces up to 5 years in prison.

Crypto leaders are pushing back:

Blockchain Association: “This ruling misapplies money transmitter laws and criminalizes developers of neutral tools.”

Solana Policy Institute: “Dev liability for open-source, non-custodial code = a fundamental misunderstanding of DeFi.”

Crypto Council for Innovation: “An appeal is necessary — we need clear legislation, not prosecution-as-policy.”

The crypto lobby is now urging the Trump administration and Congress to pass the CLARITY Act, to protect devs and define what is (and isn’t) a money transmitter in DeFi.

As policy attorney Andrew Rossow puts it:

“This isn’t just about a man or a mixer — it’s a referendum on individual agency in the age of open-source code.”

Meanwhile, the Ethereum Foundation pledged $500K in legal support, stating:

“Privacy is normal. Writing code is not a crime.”

🧠 The big question: Should creators of decentralized tools be punished for how others use them?
This case could define the future of crypto privacy, developer freedom, and DeFi innovation in the U.S.

Stay tuned — this fight is far from over.

#CryptoLaw #TornadoCash #RomanStorm #OpenSource #DeFi #PrivacyRights #Web3Policy #Ethereum