I cannot attend the Tornado Cash trial today but will be back in the courthouse tomorrow to cover it.

On the second day of the Tornado Cash trial, the prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements, offering opposing accounts of why Roman Storm created Tornado Cash. Here's my recap:

Bitcoin Magazine

Tornado Cash Trial Day 2: Prosecution And Defense Tell Different Stores About Roman Storm

With a jury finalized, the prosecution and defense made their opening statements, each featuring a very different slant on Tornado Cash co-founder ...

Day 2 of the Tornado Cash trial is underway. Expecting a good portion of the day to be dedicated to jury selection again. We may hear opening statements later in the day, though. Will be sure to provide updates in this thread throughout the day.

“In the media, social media, and in D.C. discourse, Bitcoin talk is very politicized. [But] our data shows that there’s a great silent majority of bitcoin owners who are either left wing or in the middle… They’re not [the one’s who] speak up on Twitter.” @Troy Cross

On day one of the Tornado Cash trial, the defense raised questions around the legitimacy of some of the evidence submitted to the court, while the jury selection process began. More in my latest:

Bitcoin Magazine

Tornado Cash Trial Begins With Discussions Around Motions In Limine And Data Custodians

The judge addressed questions and requests from the defense regarding updated motions and the legitimacy of certain data that will be used as evide...

UPDATE FROM DAY 1 OF THE TORNADO CASH TRIAL

I used to work at an independent record label. At the label, I wore many hats. I handled publicity, marketing, distribution, and graphic design (this was back toward the tail end of CDs being a thing). My boss basically allowed me to do my job the way I saw fit. He did offer one guiding rule, though: Find the champions for these bands out there. What he meant was just keep reaching out to people until you find those who want to support the bands on the label in some capacity and then build with them. It was simple, yet profound advice that I’ve applied to nearly everything I’ve worked on during the past 20 years. You don’t need to construct some grand plan or craft some soulless pitch or marketing angle. You just need to find others on the same wavelength as you and build with them in a way that’s mutually beneficial.

The world was never perfect, even when we were on hard money standards in the past. It’ll be up to you to do good things with your bitcoin if you want to see Bitcoin improve the world.

“It’s impt that people have control over their stores of value. There shouldn’t be a nation state between you & that store of value. If you’ve got bitcoin, that belongs to you. It’s impt that we codify that component as a part of this act.” Rep. Nick Begich (R-AL) on The Bitcoin Act

In today's status conference for the Tornado Cash case — the final one before trial begins — the judge made it clear that she plans to focus less on crypto mixing tech and more on what was in the developers' control. Here's my recap of the hearing:

Bitcoin Magazine

Takeaways From The Final Tornado Cash Status Conference Hearing

In a virtual hearing, the judge presiding over the Tornado Cash case didn't mince words as she highlighted what she plans to focus on as trial...

I (virtually) attended the final status conf. for the Tornado Cash case today. (I showed up for the in-person hearing, but it was changed to a virtual one.) Here’s what I learned from the final convo btw the judge, the prosecution, & the defense before trial starts on Monday: