<\/p>\n
Today, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) conducted a conclusive status conference hearing for the Tornado Cash case<\/a>, with the trial set to commence this Monday, 7\/14.<\/p>\n I (virtually) participated in the final status conf. for the Tornado Cash case today. (I showed up for the in-person hearing, but it was converted to a virtual format.)<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I gleaned from the last discussion between the judge, the prosecution, & the defense before trial kicks off on Monday: pic.twitter.com\/iiqBWK7NFq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Frank Corva (@frankcorva) July 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The hearing took place virtually, attended by Judge Katherine Polk Failla (who is presiding over the trial), Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, and representatives from both the defense and prosecution.<\/p>\n Storm is confronted with three allegations: conspiracy to engage in money laundering, conspiracy to manage an unlicensed money transmitting operation, and conspiracy to breach sanctions.<\/p>\n The primary subjects deliberated in the hearing included:\u00a0<\/p>\n Prior to discussing these topics, Judge Failla provided some significant details concerning the trial\u2019s proceedings.<\/p>\n The trial is scheduled to initiate Monday morning at 9:30 AM EST, with jury selection as one of the initial agenda items.<\/p>\n Judge Failla emphasized that the trial will not be recorded, aired, or retransmitted. (I\u2019ll be present to cover the majority, if not all, of it, though!)<\/p>\n She also mentioned her desire for the trial to conclude within three weeks, although she expressed skepticism about this timeline, noting she may need to take time off in early August to honor her unwell mother\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n Moreover, Judge Failla indicated that opening statements would not commence until Tuesday, 7\/15.<\/p>\n As per the prosecution, the trial is occurring in the SDNY because Storm managed a website that enabled Tornado Cash transactions from New York City for a specific period.<\/p>\n The prosecution contended that Storm also regularly communicated with one of the venture capital (VC) principals who financed Tornado Cash and happened to be located in New York City at the time.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the prosecution asserted that Storm consistently made requests to this VC principal, which extended beyond funding matters.<\/p>\n The prosecution elaborated that, in March 2020, Storm reached out to a Bloomberg<\/em> journalist who had penned a piece on Tornado Cash to persuade the journalist to alter the coverage so that it wouldn\u2019t cast Tornado Cash in a negative light.<\/p>\n They argued that Storm\u2019s dialogue with the journalist and persuading said journalist to modify the story \u201crendered the story inaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n The defense countered, asserting that Storm only approached the journalist to ensure that \u201cproper amendments\u201d were made to the article.<\/p>\n Storm refrained from addressing this issue during the hearing.<\/p>\n The prosecution suggested that all efforts made by Storm and his co-founders in running their profit-driven enterprise utilizing the Tornado Cash technology contributed to the conspiracies with which Storm has been charged.<\/p>\n One effort highlighted by the prosecution was Storm and his co-founders promoting U.S.-based Tornado Cash users to utilize the service, thus enlarging the capital pool for the money that North Korean hackers processed through the software<\/a> (enhancing the ease of fund anonymization).<\/p>\n The judge challenged this assertion from the prosecution, requesting clarification on whether they believed that actions by the Tornado Cash co-founders to sustain their operations were indeed supportive of the conspiracies with which Storm has been charged.<\/p>\n This moment caused the prosecution to hesitate, and during this pause, one of the defense attorneys moved to dismiss the indictment against Storm<\/a> due to lack of venue.<\/p>\n Judge Failla promptly denied the motion, expressing that such a request had vexed her to the point of feeling \u201can outbreak of hives.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the hearing, Judge Failla brought up the Graykey<\/a> data extraction from Alexey Pertsev\u2019s phone. (Pertsev was sentenced to five years in prison in the Netherlands<\/a> for his role in Tornado Cash.)<\/p>\n Towards the end of the hearing, she inquired if either the prosecution or defense had questions regarding Pertsev\u2019s phone, subsequently questioning the admissibility of the extracted data. She decided to postpone her ruling on this issue until trial.<\/p>\n She then requested both sides to examine the disputed data as well as the method through which it was obtained and prepare to address the matter during the trial.<\/p>\n Judge Failla made it clear that at least the outset of the trial won’t center on Tornado Cash as a mixing service, but rather on the website, the front-end interface, that Storm developed to enable transactions via the Tornado Cash software.<\/p>\n \u201c[We\u2019re] not going to focus on crypto mixing,\u201d remarked the judge.<\/p>\n However, she noted she was awaiting a response from the defense regarding her previous submissions to the court concerning crypto mixing services.<\/p>\n In addition to the aforementioned topics, the hearing\u2019s participants deliberated on the witnesses involved in the case and the supplementary motions in limine<\/em> (which remain undisclosed before or during a trial due to being irrelevant, prejudicial, or inadmissible).<\/p>\n No witness names were revealed during the hearing, but the prosecution mentioned that \u201cwitness #1\u201d had recently been identified and that they had conducted an interview with this witness.<\/p>\n The judge acknowledged the defense\u2019s plea to exclude certain materials concerning witness #1.<\/p>\n Several motions in limine<\/em> were discussed. During this segment of the hearing, the judge advised the prosecution that the witnesses should refrain from discussing the emotional distress resulting from having the funds they funneled through Tornado Cash frozen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, she expressed a preference for witnesses who experienced fund freezing to share whether they contacted the Tornado Cash team in attempts to retrieve their funds.<\/p>\n At no point during today\u2019s hearing was it mentioned that the U.S. Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has excluded Tornado Cash from its sanctions list<\/a>, nor was it noted that a court recently dismissed Coin Center\u2019s appeal to OFAC regarding this issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Details Regarding the Trial<\/h2>\n
Why the Tornado Cash Trial Is Taking Place in the SDNY<\/h2>\n
Storm \u2018Corrected\u2019 a Bloomberg<\/em> Reporter<\/h2>\n
All in Furtherance of the Charged Conspiracies?<\/h2>\n
Graykey Progress Report<\/h2>\n
Focusing on the Front End<\/h2>\n
Witnesses and Motions In Limine<\/em><\/h2>\n
What Wasn\u2019t Addressed<\/h2>\n