💥 Update:
The third week of the trial of Roman Storm kicked off with defense testimony that rebutted government tracing experts, and a Coinbase employee who used Tornado Cash to make a donation to Urkaine. 👇
https://blossom.primal.net/61eacf40891885976f691d80ba5b532e984f377b117074a2dd9ed2566d25b5cc.mp4
🚨UPDATE:
Chainalysis witness may plead the 5th to avoid self-incrimination following a phone call with the Government.
This is after SDNY openly threatened defense witness Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly Capital, allegedly to stop him from testifying.
It’s a new (and likely the final) week in the trial against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.
Here’s what to expect as the defense makes its case 👇
🚨JUST IN:
IRS Special Agent George, tasked with tracing the Government's first witness' funds to Tornado Cash, testifies that he does not know what crypto[.]com is, doesn't know the difference between ERC-20 and ETH
No Mistrial For Storm: IRS Investigator Saves Dicey Witness, But IRS Agent Stephan George's Methods and Precision are under Serious Question.
Full story 👇
UPDATE in US v. STORM: IRS blockchain tracer Stephan George today testified that he traced 9.7 ETH derived from the defrauding of Hanfeng Lin to Tornado Cash using Chainalysis and TRM Labs tools.
Also, prosecutors indulge in some light heckling of David Z Morris 👇
https://blossom.primal.net/ff2f78d339a805e528baab3e2736229a903371ee85ee32b7c66149bc50151016.mp4
💥 EXCLUSIVE: Did SDNY Enter A Recovery Scam's Documents Into Evidence against Roman Storm?
We obtained exclusive access to documents from a company called "Payback" that tied the Government's first victim to Tornado Cash – and it doesn't look good.
Full story 👇
🚨JUST IN: Notice of appearance for Chainalysis counsel in US v. Storm
Today in the prosecution of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, Storm’s defense team raised the possibility of a mistrial if no foundation could be found for the testimony of the prosecution’s first witness, Hanfeng "Katie" Lin.
The victim of a pig butchering scam, Lin engaged a recovery service that directed her to contact Tornado Cash about lost funds.
But an FBI forensic tracer who has testified for nearly a full day was not instructed by prosecutors to trace Lin’s money, and experts have raised questions about whether any of it actually went to Tornado Cash.
If it did not, Lin’s testimony would have to be stricken and, according to defense attorney David Patton, the entire trial might have to be restarted from scratch.
Full story👇
Update from U.S. v. Storm 👇
Roman Storm's defense team has raised the spectre of a mistrial after an FBI tracing expert failed to confirm that the prosecution's first witness' stolen funds had in fact been sent to Tornado Cash.
https://blossom.primal.net/1108ca2b2d9f3a561ee9b290ff7729ce65a609a0252d71fc0dea6b91f496c9df.mp4
We're about to start the second full day of proceedings in US v. Storm.
Trial observers care passionately about the outcome. Meet
Tim Clancy (@_Enoch), who brought a printed copy of the PGP code to court - the document that established free speech protections for code.
https://blossom.primal.net/04c9482921ddcec08113b2a697f4f586a17c4d5933464c8ba4e4b683e56228f5.mp4
In yesterday's opening statements, the defense asked the jury how they would feel if their bank accounts were published on the Internet.
Today, the Government filed a motion to stop Storm from testifying to the use of privacy services. Full story 👇
Scoop: At Roman Storm's trial, jurors are crying and punching walls. One juror may have to be excused, but the court is concerned that others might follow.
"Right now they're being fed with snacks, [...] we're trying to keep them happy."👇
New: US Marshal Service merely holds ~29,000 BTC
Here's the full list of holdings obtained via FOIA request: https://www.therage.co/btc-held-by-the-us-marshal-service/
I still don't know how to setup the zappers and at this point I'm afraid to ask
First actual day of the trial is over. The Government's first witness testified that she sent ~$200k to a shady trading platform via a guy she met on WhatsApp.
Tomorrow, they'll likely argue that somehow that is Roman's fault 👇
https://www.therage.co/tornado-cash-trial-scam-hack/
What's interesting about this is that in a hearing last June, the judge had asked the prosecution whether putting Storm on trial for building a software tool would be the same as prosecuting the developers of WhatsApp because criminals used it.
After today's witness statement, it sounds like there is rampant fraud on WhatsApp, WhatsApp developers did nothing to stop it, and they're the ones who should be charged for conspiring to defraud poor Katie Lin.
Pathetic, frankly.
