Regulatory & Legal Landscape - US Treasury sanctioned Tornado Cash for allegedly facilitating over $1 billion in illicit funds laundering [1] - Roman Storm, a co-developer, was arrested and faces potential decades-long sentence for conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money transmitter [1] - The core legal question is whether publishing privacy-preserving smart contracts constitutes a crime if illicit actors utilize them [1] - The case has significant implications for open-source developers globally, privacy rights, AML enforcement, and future mixer development [1] Technical & Investigative Aspects - Government's opening witness tied her scam losses to Tornado Cash using tracing via "Payback" [1] - IRS Special Agent Stephan George testified, tasked with tracing funds to Tornado Cash, but lacked knowledge of crypto[.]com and the difference between ERC-20 and ETH [1] Defense Arguments - Defense argues Tornado Cash is autonomous software, not a service controlled by Storm, with no direct customer service or control post-deployment [1] - Prosecution of developers for open-source code threatens fundamental principles [1]