GM!
Today’s top news:
- Crypto majors soar on 401(k) and BOE rate cut news; ETH & SOL lead
- Trump to sign Executive Order today allowing crypto in 401(k)s
- Tom Lee calls for $16,000 ETH + 5-10% crypto portfolio allocation
- Roman Storm found guilty on 1 count in split jury, retrial likely to come
- Art Blocks introduced ‘Art Blocks 500’ closing its first chapter
⚖️ Tornado Cash Developer Found Guilty (Partially)
The first U.S. criminal trial over crypto privacy tools ends in a split decision.
Leaving reasons to be optimistic about the future.
📌 What Happened
A crypto world reckoning: Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm faces the music after a jury’s divided verdict found him guilty on one count Wednesday, sending shockwaves through the digital currency landscape.
The verdict landed: guilty of running a rogue money transfer operation. But the courtroom held its breath – the jury remained gridlocked on the heavyweight charges: laundering dirty cash and brazenly flouting international sanctions.
BREAKING: Former SEC Chair and current SDNY Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton hails victory after Roman Storm found guilty of running an illegal money transmitting operation. Clayton’s office commended the prosecution team, marking a significant win in the government’s crackdown on illicit financial activities.
“The speed, efficiency, and… Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) August 6, 2025
Accusations are flying: Did Storm turn a blind eye while North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group funneled a staggering $1 billion through Tornado Cash? The DOJ alleges willful ignorance, painting a picture of a crypto haven knowingly exploited by cybercriminals.
But the jury didn’t buy that narrative, refusing to convict on the headline charges.
He now faces sentencing for the one guilty count.
Notably, Judge Failla denied the motion to remand him to jail, declaring:
“Storm’s not backing down. He’s dug in for a pre-sentencing brawl.”
🗣️ What They’re Saying
“Roman Storm’s code was intended as a shield for financial privacy, not a weapon for criminals,” insists Brian Klein, Storm’s attorney, painting a starkly different picture than the prosecution’s.
“A colossal victory! This ludicrous ‘1960’ charge is nothing but fabricated nonsense, and we’re prepared to obliterate it. Remember President Trump’s rallying cry to ‘fight, fight, fight’? Consider that our unwavering battle hymn in this unjust persecution.”
The hammer fell. Roman Storm, architect of crypto mixer Tornado Cash, now stands convicted of conspiracy in an unlicensed money transmitting operation. While the jury remained hung on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, the Department of Justice holds the power to retry those counts, prolonging Storm’s legal nightmare. A chilling precedent for DeFi, signaling a potential crackdown on privacy tools in the digital age.
–Jake Chervinsky, crypto legal expert
🧠 Why It Matters
A line of code, a criminal conviction? For the first time, a U.S. court has crossed a chilling threshold, holding a crypto developer criminally liable, not for misuse, but for the mere act of writing privacy-enabling code.
It sets a precedent, though a limited one.
The jury’s verdict? A resounding question mark hanging over the tech world. By acquitting on sanctions and laundering charges, they’ve essentially asked: Are developers truly accountable for the rogue creations their code unleashes? The system, it seems, isn’t convinced.
The guilty verdict echoes: even as the US welcomes crypto, financial privacy developers tread a razor’s edge.
But there is hope for those who believe Roman Storm should not be found guilty.
The legal battle is far from over. Expect a retrial, followed by a likely cascade of appeals. The ultimate outcome hinges on the shifting sands of Project Crypto in the US, particularly the evolving landscape of developer rights. By the time the dust settles, the environment could be unrecognizable.
Don’t count Roman out just yet…
🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes
A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:
Bitcoin blasts past $116,000 (+2%), Ethereum electrifies to $3,820 (+5%), XRP rockets to $3.07 (+4%), and Solana soars to $173 (+5%) as the crypto market erupts in a sea of green following the Trump 401(k) news. Is this the catalyst for the next bull run?
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PENGU(+12%), ENA (+11%) and PENDLE (+10%) led top movers After a fiveday dry spell, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs are back in the green! Wednesday saw a surge of investor interest, with BTC ETFs netting a healthy $91.6 million and ETH ETFs pulling in $35 million. Is this the start of a new wave of crypto optimism, or just a temporary blip?
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Trumpis going to sign an executive order allowing crypto and other assets into 401(k)s today according to Bloomberg
- Ethereum transactions surged this week,with daily transactions hitting ~1.87M, nearing January 2024’s all-time high
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MetaMaskplans to launch a stablecoin called “mmUSD” in partnership with Stripe, according to a now-deleted post Tornado Cash coder, Roman Storm, faces the music: A jury slammed him with a guilty verdict Wednesday for running an unauthorized money transfer service.
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The State of Michiganpension increased its Bitcoin ETF stake (ARK) to 300,000 shares (~$11.3M) A former Apple engineer has unveiled Payy, a revolutionary card designed for ultimate transaction privacy. By leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and a private blockchain, Payy cloaks your stablecoin activity, keeping it hidden from prying eyes on public blockchains.
In Corporate Treasuries
Forget FUD, embrace FOMO? Wall Street bull Tom Lee of Fundstrat (formerly BMNR) just doubled down on crypto. He’s not just throwing out pie-in-the-sky ETH price targets ($16,000, anyone?). Lee’s now advising a serious portfolio allocation: 5-10% for the average investor, and a whopping 20% for younger, risk-tolerant millennials and Gen Z. Is this the signal for a crypto spring, or just another Wall Street gamble?
- Bakktis planning to buy a 30% stake in Japanese Marusho Hotta and launch a BTC TreasuryCo
- Cosmos Healthsigned a securities agreement to launch a $300M ETH TreasuryCo
In Memes
DOGE howls at a 6% gain, while Shiba Inu fetches a respectable 4%. PEPE hops 5% higher, and BONK chases its tail with a 6% surge. PENGU waddles ahead, leading the flock with a 12% leap. Even TRUMP’s meme coin sees a 3% bump, and the broader market (SPX) parties with a 7% jump. And let’s not forget FARTCOIN, managing a gassy 4% rise!
The creator of the infamous TROLL meme is letting sleeping dogs lie, despite a memecoin bearing its name exploding to a $200 million valuation yesterday. Ironically, even with that surge, the $TROLL coin has already cooled off, now sitting at a $170 million market cap – a 6% dip that’s leaving some wondering if the joke’s on them.
Yesterday’s crypto race sawBOSSseize the lead, skyrocketing an astounding 1,400% to a $20M valuation! Hot on its heels, LIZARD slithered up 100% to $10M, while SWIF zipped ahead 300% to $3.7M, proving these coins are ones to watch.
- REKThit a new ATH at $560M market cap, now with a 6-day green streak
💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker
Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
- Ventualslaunched its testnet for tokenized private market stocks on Hyperliquid
- Magic Edenairdropped 10M ME tokens yesterday for its Season 2 rewards
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Pendle launched Boros, tokenizing perp funding‑rate swaps (initially for ETH/BTC on Binance), enabling hedging and fixed‑vs‑floating rate trades Weather’s getting Web3: WeatherXM hits Solana, rewarding weather station operators with tokens for powering ultra-local forecasts. Get pinpoint accuracy, get rewarded!
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BOBraised another $9.5M to build its Bitcoin DeFi product
Magic Eden airdropped 10M $ME tokens yesterday for its Season 2 Rewards
🤖 AI x Crypto
Section dedicated to headlines in the AI sector of crypto:
- Overall market capup 5% to $10.9B, leaders were very green
- FARTCOIN(+5%), VIRTUAL (+10%), TIBBIR (+10%), ai16z (+7%) & ALCH (+1%)
- BIOS (+200%), HEU (+60%) and AXR (+46%)led top movers
- Trump Media’s Truth Socialis now beta-testing “Truth Search AI,” an AI-powered search engine built with Perplexity
- Pudgy Penguinsannounced a collab with Ava Studio to enable holders to make AI content more easily
🚚 What is happening in NFTs?
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
- ETH NFT leaders were mostly green;Punks +1% at 52.2 ETH, Pudgy +2% at 14.2, BAYC -1% at 11.85 ETH
- Meebits (+17%)and Memeland Captainz (+15%) led notable top movers
- Bitcoin NFTswere mostly red or even; Quantum Cats +4%
- Abstract NFTswere mostly red; Bearyz +12% led The genesis has been reached. Art Blocks 500: a monument to the platform’s pioneering spirit. Just five more projects – a curated duo and three exploratory ventures – stand between us and the completion of this landmark collection. What lies beyond 500? The future of Art Blocks is yet to be written…
Art Blocks is “putting a glass case” around its first 500 projects
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