BTC continues to decline today, recording four consecutive bearish candles. Currently, the weekly level also shows one bearish engulfing two bullish candles. Although the drop isn't deep yet, it's like a frog in warm water; the presence of such a bearish trend is very frightening. Whether it's a small bull or a big bull, or a small bear or a big bear, the previous trends are all similar. The difference is just a matter of time; small bulls and small bears last for a short time with little fluctuation, while big bulls and big bears last longer with significant movement. If this wave of small bulls fizzles out and turns into a big bear, I’ll make a small profit.

I finally got some benefits from Binance's alpha project; it's a big gain, with over 80 U in one go, equivalent to a low-income allowance. However, as more people join, future profits may decrease. Whatever, I'm just passing the time, reaping from this super fat sheep. Whatever I can get, earning it is a win.

U.S. stocks wasted some time yesterday; since the rebound from the pit on May 13, they have been fluctuating, generally sideways, which indicates accumulation of strength. It could go either up or down. The A-share market is relatively special, having accumulated strength for 10 years and still doing so, with no sign of a bull market in sight; the Shanghai Composite remains at 3000 points, an eternally unchanged form.

Next, let's talk about the Roman Storm case. This case is a criminal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against Roman Storm, a co-founder of Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash is a cryptocurrency mixer on Ethereum designed to enhance privacy by obscuring the source and destination of transactions. However, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has included it on the sanctions list, accusing the platform of aiding hackers and criminals in money laundering, including laundering activities related to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.

In addition to Roman Storm, another co-founder, Roman Semenov, also faces the same charges but has not yet been arrested. Meanwhile, Tornado Cash's core developer, 31-year-old Russian citizen Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison in the Netherlands in May 2024 for laundering $2.2 billion on the platform.

Charges: conspiracy to commit money laundering. Roman Storm is accused of conspiring to commit money laundering during the operation of Tornado Cash. He is also charged with violating relevant sanctions regulations and operating a money transfer business without a license.

Case Progress

In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Roman Storm and Roman Semenov.

In March 2024, Roman Storm filed a motion to dismiss the case, but was rejected by Federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York. The judge found that the government's indictment against Storm was reasonable and that Storm's arguments were insufficient to overturn these charges.

In September 2024, the judge once again dismissed Storm's request to dismiss and denied his request for documents related to the conviction of Dutch developer Alexey Pertsev.

In December 2024, Roman Storm's trial was originally scheduled to start on December 2, but according to the latest news, the trial date has been changed to July 14, 2025.

In January 2025, a Texas court ruled that the sanctions against Tornado Cash were invalid, stating that smart contracts do not constitute sanctionable property and ordered its removal from the SDN list. This ruling may affect the Roman Storm case, but the Department of Justice still decided to continue prosecuting Storm.

If Roman Storm is found guilty, he could face up to 45 years in prison.

Defense view: code is speech. Storm's defense team argues that writing code is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They contend that merely writing the code for Tornado Cash should not incur legal liability. The Storm side also emphasizes that Tornado Cash is an open-source, decentralized platform that he cannot control. They argue that the platform is not a profit-driven enterprise but a tool for providing privacy protection to legitimate cryptocurrency users.

Prosecutor's view: money laundering and sanctions violations. The prosecution alleges that Tornado Cash was used for money laundering and violated sanctions regulations, believing that Storm and Semenov knew the platform was being used for illegal activities but still profited from it.

The judge stated that while code may be a form of expression, using code for money laundering and other activities is not protected by the First Amendment. She pointed out that the relevant laws are aimed at combating money laundering, unregistered remittance businesses, and evasion of sanctions, which are unrelated to free speech.