Takeaways From The Final Tornado Cash Status Conference Hearing

Today, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) hosted a final status conference hearing for the Tornado Cash case, the trial for which begins this Monday, 7/14.

The hearing was held virtually, and attendees included Judge Katherine Polk Failla (the judge presiding over the trial), Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, and members of the defense and prosecution.

Storm is facing three charges: conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to commit sanctions violations.

The main topics discussed in the hearing included: 

• the grounds for the New York court becoming the venue for the trial
• Storm’s influence over a Bloomberg reporter who reported on Tornado Cash in March 2020
• whether or not all actions by the Tornado Cash co-founders and developers to keep Tornado Cash running furthered the conspiracies in Storm’s indictment
• the admissibility of the data extracted from Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev’s phone
• how Judge Failla plans to focus more on how Storm ran a for-profit business than the details of the Tornado Cash’s crypto mixing software itself

Before engaging on these topics, Judge Failla shared some key details about the trial’s proceedings.

Details about the Trial

The trial will begin Monday morning at 9:30 AM EST, and one of the first items on the docket is jury selection.

Judge Failla noted that the trial will not be recorded, broadcasted, or rebroadcasted. (I’ll be there to cover most, if not all, of it, though!)

She also stated that she’d like to see the trial concluded within three weeks, though she added that she doesn’t think it will be and that she may need to take some time off from the trial in early August to celebrate her sick mother’s birthday.

What is more, Judge Failla stated that opening statements won’t be made until Tuesday, 7/15.

Why the Tornado Cash Trial Is Being Held in the SDNY

According to the prosecution, the trial is proceeding in the SDNY because Storm operated a website that facilitated Tornado Cash transactions from New York City for a period of time.

The prosecution argued that Storm also frequently communicated with one of the venture capital (VC) principals who funded Tornado Cash and who was also based in New York City at the time.

The prosecution added that Storm made frequent requests from this VC principal and that the requests were not only related to funding.

Storm ‘Corrected’ a Bloomberg Reporter

The prosecution explained how, in March 2020, Storm contacted a Bloomberg reporter who’d…