Overview

• A 12-member jury was seated on July 15 in Manhattan and heard opening statements charging Storm with running a crypto mixer that laundered over $1 billion.
• Prosecutors plan to introduce a photo of Storm wearing a Tornado Cash T-shirt to show his knowledge of the platform’s money-laundering function.
• Defense counsel maintained Tornado Cash was built as a privacy tool and that Storm lacked the power to block illicit transactions or recover stolen funds.
• On day two of the trial, three government witnesses—including victims of a pig-butchering scam, a BitMart hack, and the Axie Infinity exploit—testified developers offered no assistance after thefts.
• The trial is slated to last about four weeks with additional witness testimony scheduled this week.