Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, developed an interest in programming as a child, which led to a career in software engineering and eventually blockchain development. Recently, at 36, he received a guilty verdict for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, with potential additional charges for money laundering and conspiracy to violate US sanctions pending. Storm had initially journeyed from Russia to the US in 2008, facing difficulties before securing roles at companies like Amazon. By 2017, he shifted focus to blockchain and co-founded Tornado Cash in 2019, providing a mixer service for anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. The US Department of Justice has accused him of facilitating over $1 billion in illicit transfers through Tornado Cash and filling his own pockets with $12 million in profits from the operation. Storm's indictment has raised significant concerns regarding privacy in the blockchain space, making his case critical for the future treatment of digital privacy and open-source software developers by US courts.

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