Here is Judge Failla in the Storm case this afternoon: "I think the stability of the verdict is very much in play... I think the 1960 [charge] is perhaps the most interesting of the legal issues..." This is absolutely NOT over - the government's overreach here will not stand.

1/ PROJECT CRYPTO A mandate from the SEC Chair for the entire agency to update federal securities regulations so that crypto can flourish in the USA 🇺🇸 This is the start of the biggest push for regulatory clarity in crypto's history. The SEC has 3.5 years to make it a reality.

First time waiting for a jury verdict? There are two main events to watch for: 1) the jury sends a note or question for the judge to answer, which might imply what they're thinking or what direction they're leaning — although reading tea leaves is hit or miss 2) the jury says they have a verdict — then everyone gets called back to the courtroom for the verdict to be presented Typically juries deliberate during ordinary court hours, so if there's no verdict by 5 pm, they go home and continue the next day. But that depends on the judge, who can decide to keep the jury after hours if they want. In federal criminal cases, the jury has to be unanimous to render a verdict. It's either 12-0 guilty, 12-0 not guilty, or else the jury "hangs" and fails to render a decision. One juror who refuses to go along with the other 11 can hang a jury. A hung jury ends the trial without a verdict, and then the government has to decide if they want to retry the case all over again. Sometimes they do, sometimes they decide they've had enough and walk away. A hung jury is generally viewed as a win for the defense. If the jury doesn't reach a verdict for a long enough time, or says they're hung, the judge might give an "Allen charge," which is basically an instruction for the jury to try harder. Judges hate when juries hang because of how much time and resources go into a trial. They don't want to run it again if they can help it. Lawyers love to speculate about whether short or long deliberations benefit the defense or prosecution. Generally, most agree that a long deliberation is good for the defense, because it means the jury is analyzing the evidence carefully and not just condemning the defendant based on bad vibes. It also can suggest a holdout juror who refuses to go along with the pack, and a hung jury is a win for the defense. Typically the verdict is binary: either guilty or not guilty on each count in the indictment. The jury doesn't have to explain their reasoning or address any particular factual or legal issue, unless there's a special verdict form that requires them to do so. There are no cameras allowed in federal courtrooms, so all we can do is wait for people at the courthouse to report here on any new developments. Waiting for a verdict is a uniquely painful experience. Just keep breathing....

Amazing summary. Thank you @RebeccaRettig1 for putting this together!

Today the White House is releasing its comprehensive report on digital assets, providing long-awaited regulatory clarity for innovators in a cutting-edge industry. President Trump is delivering on his promise to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the planet.

Since our statement on Friday, we've received overwhelming support from across the crypto, tech, and venture communities. We want to sincerely thank you all for standing behind us. The DOJ has now backtracked. They have stated on the record in the trial Monday morning that the media reports that they were planning to bring charges against Dragonfly were inaccurate, and neither Dragonfly nor any of its principals are targets in their investigation. The DOJ's public statements on Friday in open court—that Dragonfly, as investors, could face prosecution merely for backing an open-source privacy technology—was not only unprecedented, it was a clear violation of DOJ policy. They are never allowed to speculate on prosecuting a third party in open court in front of the media. The prosecutors did this to prevent us from testifying for the defense. But even the notion that an investor could be charged would have induced a chilling effect on investment into blockchain and privacy-preserving technologies. We sincerely thank you all for your support. With that behind us, the focus should remain on Roman Storm's trial, which is now nearing closing arguments as soon as this week. Its outcome will have massive implications for open-source software and privacy rights in America. We are hopeful that the American judicial system will get this right.

As of Thursday, in their Rule 29 response, the DOJ is still pushing this theory that Storm, by publishing TC software, provided a "valuable service" to a sanctioned entity because DPRK used the protocol. This flawed principle is limitless: if I make a hammer with no particular end user in mind and somehow that hammer ends up being used by DPRK, I provided them a "valuable service." But you don't see them going after Apple for the iPhone, Google for its tech suite, etc., even though these tech tools are used by the DPRK. That's because this is a gross distortion of the law. Back when we @fund_defi @jchervinsky wrote our amicus brief in support of @rstormsf's MTD, we reviewed over 100 sanctions cases and provided the court with a table of them - in every single case there was nexus between the sanctioned entity and the defendant, some evidence the defendant directly connected with the SDN or created a tool *for* the SDN specifically. There was no case - none - where a defendant made a tool with no particular end user in mind and was then convicted of violating sanctions because an SDN ended up with that tool in hand.

Bringing criminal charges against investors in an open-source protocol would be an insane abuse of power that would set a dangerous precedent. The Trump administration says that it wants to make the US the crypto capital of the world. Well, this is NOT the way to do that.

1/ Bittersweet day. Today is my last day @BlockchainAssn. What an incredible journey fighting for crypto's future. Thank you to my amazing BA team and our members. I've learned more than I could've imagined and I attribute that to all of you. 🧵

35 pages only. Well this will be a fast analysis. I’ll just hit the highlights.