Roman Storm’s Defense Seeks Mistrial Over Tornado Cash Links
Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, has filed a motion seeking a mistrial in his money-laundering case after key witness Hanfeng Lin failed to produce on-chain evidence linking her $190,000 stolen Bitcoin to the mixer. Defense attorney David Patton challenged the reliability of Lin’s Payback report and noted that an FBI agent admitted he never traced her funds. Prosecutors plan to call IRS analyst Stephan George to testify on alleged short-hop transactions to Tornado Cash. Independent researchers at MetaMask and sleuth ZachXBT report no signs of Lin’s coins entering the protocol. The Department of Justice alleges Tornado Cash laundered over $1 billion, including funds tied to the Lazarus Group and the 2022 Ronin hack. The outcome could delay the trial and set critical legal precedents for decentralized mixers, influencing regulatory scrutiny and market confidence in privacy solutions.
Bearish
The motion for a mistrial highlights ongoing legal uncertainty and regulatory risk around Tornado Cash. Challenged evidence and heightened scrutiny may undermine trader confidence in privacy solutions, leading to short-term volatility for Tornado Cash’s governance token (TORN). In the long term, potential legal precedents could restrict mixer usage and draw broader regulatory action against privacy protocols, further weighing on market sentiment.