Tornado Cash Mixer Co-Founder Convicted in US Trial
After a week-long deliberation, a US jury convicted Roman Storm, co-founder of the Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash, of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Jurors remained deadlocked on additional counts of money laundering conspiracy and sanctions violations linked to North Korea, resulting in a hung jury on those charges. Storm’s sentencing date is pending, and prosecutors may retry the unresolved counts. This verdict underscores escalating crypto regulation and compliance risk for privacy-focused DeFi platforms, setting a potential precedent for enforcement actions against mixing services. Traders should track Tornado Cash’s legal outcomes and adjust their risk exposure accordingly.
Bearish
This unfavorable verdict against Tornado Cash’s co-founder intensifies regulatory scrutiny of Ethereum-based privacy tools and DeFi services. Heightened compliance risk could deter users and developers from participating in mixing platforms on the Ethereum network, potentially reducing transaction volume and innovation. In the short term, market sentiment toward Ethereum may weaken due to fears of stricter enforcement, while long-term effects depend on evolving regulations and platform adaptations. Overall, the ruling poses a bearish signal for Ethereum by raising uncertainty around privacy-centric DeFi protocols.