Congress Plans Crypto Refocus Next Week; Roman Storm Speaks Out
As Congress eyes plans for crypto legislation, Roman Storm prepares for trial
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Crypto In America newsletter!
What you’ll read: Crypto returns to the spotlight next week after the reconciliation bill dominates focus, an exclusive interview with indicted Tornado Cash co-founder, and a roundup of the week’s top stories.
After more than 26 hours of back-to-back amendment votes, President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” has cleared its first big hurdle in the Senate.
But the crypto industry is leaving this round of vote-a-rama empty-handed, with Senator Cynthia Lummis’s (R-WY) proposed crypto tax amendment failing to make it into the final package, despite behind-the-scenes pressure from the White House.
Still, there may be reason for optimism on the horizon as the Senate is aiming for the second half of next week to hold a full Banking Committee hearing on market structure, with a discussion draft potentially dropping ahead of that.
In the House, leadership is keen to bring both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act to the floor as early as next week, though much depends on the progress of the reconciliation bill. It remains uncertain whether any changes will be made to GENIUS before the final vote, or if it will move forward as received from the Senate.
If both bills pass, GENIUS would proceed directly to the President’s desk, while CLARITY would advance to the Senate.
Storm Breaks Silence on Tornado Cash Case
One of crypto’s most consequential criminal trials begins July 14.
Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, is facing federal charges that could set a standard for how the U.S. treats open-source software developers and decentralized protocols.
Ahead of his trial, Storm joined Crypto in America for his first podcast interview since being indicted by the Department of Justice.
Crypto in America reached out to the DOJ for comment. They declined.
The Backstory
Storm, who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia at age 19, described how he taught himself to code, discovered Bitcoin, and co-founded Tornado Cash — a privacy protocol he says is “non-custodial, immutable, and had no off switch.”
“We weren’t a business. We didn’t have customers. We made code. That’s it.”
The Charges
The DOJ alleges Tornado Cash facilitated money laundering, including by the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. But Storm says he had no contact with illicit actors, didn’t profit from user activity, and voluntarily cooperated with investigators before being arrested at gunpoint in his home.
“I opened my backyard door and I saw people in a SWAT gear shouting, pointing rifles at me.”
He’s now out on bail under strict restrictions, including a ban on using personal crypto. “I’ve been debanked multiple times,” he said. “It gives you anxiety just checking your mailbox and wondering whether you’re going to get a letter saying you’re going lose all your bank accounts.”
The Stakes
Storm believes the lawsuit is a political tool of the Biden administration’s regulation-by-enforcement approach and could have far-reaching consequences beyond just his case.
“If I lose, I don’t think it does any good for crypto, DeFi, or the United States as a place to innovate.”
He also raised concerns about the DOJ’s attempt to exclude expert witnesses from testifying — a decision that could be resolved at an upcoming pretrial hearing.
A Message to Lawmakers and President Trump
Storm urged Congress to clarify that open-source developers who don’t retain control over user funds shouldn’t face criminal liability.
And if Trump were listening?
“I would tell him…no software developer should go through what I’ve gone through under the Biden administration.”
Watch the full interview on all platforms here.
Midweek Update
ICYMI. Here are some of the biggest stories so far this week:
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the conversion of Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund into an ETF tracking Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana and Cardano.
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging the IRS’s authority to obtain customer trading records from Coinbase.
Circle has applied for a national bank charter, which would enable it to operate across state lines without requiring money transmitter licenses and potentially offer custody services to institutional clients.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has enacted a law that limits the use of digital assets within state government, including prohibiting the creation of a cryptocurrency reserve.
Design software company Figma disclosed in an SEC filing that it holds nearly $70 million in Bitcoin ETFs and has reserved $30 million in stablecoins to purchase Bitcoin as it prepares for a public listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “FIG.”
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