Tornado Cash Trial Highlights DOJ’s Conflicted Enforcement Priorities

Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm’s legal team is on the back foot as another key witness decided to plead the Fifth. Court reporters claimed that the jury appeared “overwhelmed” at the remaining jargon-heavy testimony.

As the trial continues, it seems like the DOJ’s biggest victories have come from disrupting Storm’s roster of witnesses. Trump appointees explicitly loosened the rules that Storm allegedly violated, potentially hampering the prosecution’s strategy.

Tornado Cash Trial Continues

The trial of Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm entered its third week today, and the defense finally got a chance to take the initiative. However, it faced a major setback as one witness from Chainalysis declared her intent to plead the Fifth. Apparently, this individual changed her tune after a phone call from prosecutors, raising a significant alarm.

This is particularly concerning because Roman Storm asserted last month that the DOJ is systematically undermining his witnesses. Last week, prosecutors suggested filing charges against several individuals at Dragonfly Capital, whose Managing Partner openly derided this as a move to block Tornado Cash witnesses. So, why would the prosecution do this?

Journalist Molly White suggested that this move represents a key contradiction at the heart of the Tornado Cash case. Since President Trump took office, crypto enforcement has gotten a lot friendlier in the US. The DOJ’s new Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, wrote a memo in April that seemingly guts the case against Roman Storm:

“Prosecutors should not charge regulatory violations in cases involving digital assets, including but not limited to unlicensed money transmitting…unless there is evidence that the defendant knew of the licensing or registration requirement at issue and violated such a requirement willfully,” Blanche wrote.

The DOJ dropped much of its complaint against Storm after this memo, severely complicating the prosecution’s strategy. So far, the federal government has put alleged hack victims on the stand, but it’s uncertain how Tornado Cash connects to actual finance crimes. Beyond moves like that, pushing Storm’s witnesses to back out seems like the prosecution’s key tactic.

What Will the Jury Decide?

Still, even if this is generating a lot of outrage in the crypto community, it may not be ineffective. Tornado Cash’s team called two witnesses to the stand today, one of whom, NAXO co-founder Matthew Edman, spent significantly more time testifying.

Multiple court reporters documented the jury’s reaction to Edman: his command of the technical information was “particularly strong,” but the jurors seemed “bored,” “overwhelmed,” and “slouching” in reaction to jargon-heavy discussion. Apparently, the DOJ actively worked to ensure that the jury doesn’t contain anyone who understands blockchain technology.

All that is to say, the Tornado Cash case could go either way right now. Even if the community has recognized several concerning incidents, the jury might not notice them. Whatever happens, crypto enthusiasts should keep track of the proceedings, as they may determine privacy law in the future.