Tornado Cash Co-Founder on Trial in Landmark DeFi Case

Roman Storm, co-creator of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, faces trial in New York on accusations of laundering over $1 billion in illicit proceeds, tied to groups like North Korea’s Lazarus. His defense asserts that he only wrote code without intent for misuse, placing the spotlight on developer liability in DeFi.This trial represents a pivotal moment for decentralised finance, testing whether code authors can be held criminally responsible for third-party misuse. The outcome may reshape legal frameworks around open-source protocols, forcing designers to rethink governance mechanisms, compliance layers, or access controls. The case’s duration and international implications echo far beyond Storm’s personal fate, affecting global regulation and developer risk premiums in crypto innovation.Given DOJ reluctance to prosecute similar developers and the sector’s exponential growth, regulators may become increasingly ambitious. A conviction could slow DeFi development, while an acquittal might embolden more decentralized experimentation.