Paradigm Throws Down in Court: "Prove Storm Knew Tornado Cash Was a Money-Transmitting Beast!"

High Stakes Drama: Jury Instructions Could Make or Break Tornado Cash Co-Founder's Fate

Hold onto your hats, crypto fans! Paradigm just dropped a bombshell amicus brief in federal court, fighting tooth and nail for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm. They're demanding proof that Storm was fully aware he was running a money-transmitting beast, or else he walks free!

In a fiery June 13 filing that hit the streets on Monday, Paradigm is going all in, demanding the court to school the jury. They want it crystal clear: to nail Storm under those heavy federal money transmission laws, you gotta show he knew he was running a business that was all up in users' funds, charging them for every move, and knowingly swimming in dirty money.

Paradigm's not pulling any punches, saying the prosecution's case is a joke. They're waving the flag for FinCEN guidance from way back, even pulling out 2019 statements from the Treasury Department. It's black and white: devs who don't control funds aren't money transmitters, period.

The brief lays it out raw: "Slapping a software dev with criminal charges under § 1960 for what others do, when all they did was whip up some unchangeable open-source code? That's as nuts as jailing a TV maker because some spy blabbed state secrets on their screen!"

They're painting Storm as just a dude who tossed some open-source, self-custodial software out into the world. No strings attached, no control over funds.

Paradigm's top legal eagles, Katie Biber and Gina Moon, aren't messing around either. In their blog post, they're sounding the alarm: let this charge slide, and you're opening the floodgates for prosecutors to twist the law any way they want. They're talking about people facing hard time, even if they're playing by the book according to the regulators.

This isn't just Paradigm talking. Big shots in the industry are backing them up left and right. Remember when Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang put pen to paper, calling for the whole case to hit the trash can?

And it's not just him. Ethereum's own Tim Beiko and Bankless boss Ryan Sean Adams joined over 250 heavy hitters, begging Trump's crew to step in and stop what they're calling a regulatory power trip.

The DeFi Education Fund, the brains behind the April 28 petition, is shouting it from the rooftops: the DOJ's approach is straight-up threatening to make coding a crime.

This whole Storm saga is lighting up debates on how the U.S. treats open-source devs. Even Congress is getting in on the action, grilling the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and echoing the same worries.

Storm's wild ride kicked off in August 2023, when U.S. bigwigs hit him with a triple threat: conspiracy to wash dirty money, running an unlicensed money transmitter, and thumbing his nose at U.S. sanctions. We're talking up to 45 years behind bars if he gets the book thrown at him.

Mark your calendars, crypto world. Storm's trial is set to blow the roof off on July 14, right in the heart of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Buckle up, because this is gonna be one wild ride!