Tornado Cash Showdown: Defense Pushes for Mistrial as Roman Storm’s Case Hinges on Controversial Evidence
Legal fireworks erupt in the crypto privacy wars.
Roman Storm’s defense team is throwing haymakers—filing for mistrial over what they call 'tainted' evidence in the Tornado Cash case. The move could blow the prosecution’s argument apart like a weak smart contract.
Privacy tech vs. regulators: Round 47.
The feds claim Tornado Cash laundered billions, but coders insist it’s just math doing its job—no different than a Swiss bank account, just without the leather chairs and cocaine habits. Meanwhile, VCs who backed this ‘disruption’ are suddenly very interested in ‘compliance-as-a-service.’
This isn’t just about one dev. It’s a precedent-setting battle that could decide whether writing code equals running a money transmitter—and whether crypto’s cypherpunk roots get paved over by KYC asphalt.
Bonus jab: Somewhere in Miami, a hedge fund manager just bought ‘privacy coins’ as a hedge against his SEC subpoena. The circle of life.