Screenshot source: Department of Justice

On July 14, Roman Storm’s trial — on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violating US sanctions — began in a Manhattan courtroom. The allegations sound pretty serious, but they all boil down to one real action: Developing, in cooperation with others, a computer program.

That program is Tornado Cash, an “open source, non-custodial, fully decentralized cryptocurrency tumbler.”

In English, it’s a program that anyone can use, that no one controls, and that can be used to keep prying eyes off crypocurrency transactions. It........

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