Tornado Cash on Trial: Privacy Savior or Money Launderer? Lawyers Clash in Roman Storm Case

Day one of the Roman Storm trial erupts as legal teams battle over Tornado Cash's true nature—privacy shield or criminal enabler.

Code vs. Crime

The defense paints the Ethereum mixer as essential digital privacy tech, while prosecutors brand it a 'criminal laundromat'—with $7 billion in allegedly tainted crypto spun through its protocols.

Regulators Hate This One Trick

Anonymous transactions meet anti-money laundering laws in a courtroom collision that could redefine DeFi's boundaries. Spoiler: the SEC still thinks everything's a security.

As the crypto world watches, one truth emerges—whether Storm walks or not, privacy tech just got its most public stress test yet. And Wall Street? Still trying to tokenize real estate.

First witness

After opening statements concluded, the government called its first witness, a Taiwan-born Georgia resident named Hanfeng Ling. Ms. Ling told the court how she was the victim of a pig butchering scam in the fall of 2021, that began with a wrong-number Whatsapp message. The scammer convinced Ling to transfer nearly $200,000 from her savings account to purchase crypto and then “invest” the crypto in a fake foreign exchange trading platform.

Ms. Ling’s testimony will continue on Wednesday. Nathan Rehn, the lead prosecutor, told the court that he expects her testimony will be followed by four more government witnesses on Wednesday.

The bulk of Storm’s trial is expected to take place over three weeks, followed by jury deliberation.