In the wake of the Tornado Cash verdict and Samourai plea deal, the U.S. is at a crossroads regarding whether Bitcoin (and crypto) will actually flourish here or not. I sat down with Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director at CoinCenter, to discuss this and much, much more.

Here’s my write-up on the Tornado Cash verdict and how the judge rejected the prosecution’s motion to remand Roman Storm.

Bitcoin Magazine

Tornado Cash Trial Concludes: Roman Storm Found Guilty On One Of Three Counts

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm has been found guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, while the jury wasn�...

The Tornado Cash trial has concluded. Roman Storm has been found guilty of the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business charge. Here are my thoughts on the outcome, the government’s (rejected) motion to remand Storm, and what comes next.

🚨 Roman Storm has been found guilty of count 2, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business. The jury was not unanimous on the other two counts.

The jury in the Tornado Cash trial continues to deliberate. This is a good thing.

Bitcoin Magazine

Tornado Cash Jury Still Deliberating — Here's Why That's A Good Thing

After three days of deliberation, many, including myself, are anxious for a verdict in the Tornado Cash trial, but the fact that it’s taking so l...

My notes from the Tornado Cash trial today: The jury continued to deliberate… At 9:24 AM EST, the jury sent a note with two questions written on it: (I’m paraphrasing the questions.) 1. Do the sanctioned wallets include intermediary wallets? 2. Do the sanctions follow intermediary wallets? - After some back and forth with the prosecution and defense, Judge Failla said that she would refer the jury to a chart that includes a list of the sanctioned addresses in response to the first question. - In response to the second, Judge Failla said that she’d tell the jury that she cannot give them answer. - The jury also sent a second note asking if they could get the transcripts of Mr. William Lopez to prove venue. The judge said that the court would provide them with said transcripts. - Some more background on the back and forth between the judge and the prosecution and defense: The prosecution stated that they wanted the judge to write that the jury is “hyperfocused on questions that don’t have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.” (She didn’t include that in her response note.) - The prosecution also suggested that the judge mention one of the sanctioned addresses (the “0x0 address”) as well as the Lazarus Group being placed on the SDN list in her note to the jury. (SDN stands for “Specially Designated Nationals” and the list is a sanctions list published by OFAC.) - The judge responded to the prosecution by stating “They didn’t ask about the Lazarus Group.” - The defense requested that the judge respond with “no” and “no” to the jury’s two questions. “I’m not doing that,” the judge said bluntly. - The jury shared a note at 12:14 PM EST in which they stated “We’ve made a lot of progress today” and “We’ve reached a natural stopping point.” The judge read this note aloud to the courtroom just before 12:30 PM EST, when the trial day concluded. In the judge’s response note, she wished the juror whose mother is celebrating her 90th birthday today a happy birthday. - The jury will continue deliberating tomorrow at 8:45 AM EST.

Notes from day 15 of the Tornado Cash trial: When I walked in this morning, the jury had just sent a note to the judge asking if Storm had a legal obligation to respond to the law enforcement agencies that had requested his help in retrieving funds. - After some discussion with the prosecution and defense, Judge Failla wrote a note to the jury asking them to focus only on the evidence admitted in the trial, none of which touched on whether or not he was required to respond to law enforcement. - Around 1:00 PM EST, the jury requested specific text messages/chats. - Just now, some members of the jury shared they had some scheduling issues for the rest of the week. - One juror has a 90th birthday party for her mother tomorrow. She initially wanted to take the entire day off tomorrow. - Judge Failla spoke with the jurors, and they’ve agreed to come in tomorrow from 8:30 AM EST to 12:30 PM EST. - The jurors have also agreed to stay until at least 4:00 PM EST this evening, maybe later. - After speaking with the jurors just moments ago, Judge Failla said “I have no sense we’re getting a verdict from them this afternoon.”

British MPs are purchasing commercial VPNs - and billing taxpayers for them - to circumvent the Online Safety Act, which censors online content.

Bitcoin ATMs in Wisconsin may soon be money transmitters. The push for more KYC continues.

At day 14 of the Tornado Cash trial, and just stepped out for lunch. The jury is still deliberating, which may be a good thing, according to Zack Shapiro.