Tornado Cash verdict sets off a storm of protest as crypto advocates push for a potential appeal

A jury's verdict to find Tornado Cash creator Roman Storm guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business was met with disappointment from crypto pundits and signs of a possible appeal. 

On Wednesday, a jury in Manhattan found Storm guilty on that money transmitting charge, but couldn't reach a verdict for money laundering and sanctions charges. 

"We are disappointed that the jury did not recognize that Storm should not be responsible for the actions of third parties he could not control," the DeFi Education Fund said in a post on X. "While it is understandable that the jury could not reach a decision on all the charges — as the government made many mistakes throughout and their case was not compelling — we hoped for a different outcome for Storm."

Storm was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations for operating Tornado Cash in 2023 after prosecutors said the crypto mixer facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions and laundered millions of dollars for the Lazarus Group — a sanctioned North Korean hacker group. 

The DeFi Education Fund, along with others, said they would continue supporting Storm. 

"At the DeFi Education Fund, we will always advocate for DeFi software developers’ fundamental rights, as we fervently believe software developers deserve the freedom to build decentralized financial tools and infrastructure, including privacy-preserving technology," the group said.

Coin Center Executive Director Peter Van Valkenburgh called the money transmitter charge "inappropriate" from the onset in a post on X.

"This needs to be appealed, and Coin Center will do everything to make sure the judge gets the law right the next time around," Van Valkenburgh said.

The Blockchain Association urged Storm to appeal, in a post on X. 

"Today's guilty verdict on Count 2 against Roman Storm is disappointing and sets a dangerous precedent for open-source software developers," the group said. "We urge him to appeal and stand ready to support that effort."

Storm plans to fight that charge, calling it "bullshit," according to reporting from journalist Eleanor Terrett. Storm quoted President Donald Trump and said he would "fight, fight, fight," Terrett reported. 

Trump pardoned Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht earlier this year, but it is unclear if he would do the same for Storm. 

Samson Enzer, partner at CahillNXT, said the split verdict likely shows that the government didn’t prove enough that Storm deliberately helped bad actors launder criminal proceeds through Tornado Cash.

However, Enzer said that it’s not likely for the government to retry the hung charges.

"The case is not over, but could have significant implications for the crypto industry in assessing whether developers or operators of front-end user interfaces associated with non-custodial decentralized software protocols that facilitate transfers or exchanges of digital assets without giving a centralized intermediary custody of customer funds--a type of activity that FinCEN previously deemed to be outside the scope of money transmission regulations—will need to comply with onerous anti-money laundering, know-your-customer diligence, and money transmitter regulations,” Enzer added.

Updated at 7:45 p.m. UTC time to include comments from Enzer