In the ongoing trial of Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, jurors reported being deadlocked after four days of deliberation on certain charges. To address this impasse, Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued an Allen charge, urging the jury to continue their discussions in hopes of reaching a unanimous verdict. Storm's defense attorney criticized the charge, suggesting it was unlikely a unanimous decision could be achieved and proposed accepting a partial verdict instead. The judge chose to align with prosecutors who argued for continued deliberations. The case centers around allegations that Storm conspired to launder over $1 billion in illicit funds, which included money associated with North Korea's Lazarus Group. While prosecutors assert that Storm actively promoted the mixer to criminals, the defense contends that he merely wrote open-source code and bore no responsibility for its misuse. If convicted on all counts, Storm could face up to 45 years in prison, highlighting significant potential legal impacts for crypto developers regarding liability in decentralized systems.

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