The case against Roman Sterlingov showed that Chainalysis tools are flawed — and shouldn't be trusted to convict defendants when they face decades in prison.
I was sitting at the counsel table next to 35-year-old Roman Sterlingov at the largest Bitcoin-mixer money laundering trial ever. We called him “Mr. Sterlingov” throughout the trial, but I just knew him as Roman. He was the defendant. We were waiting for the jury to read the verdict.
The verdict, issued March 12, was “guilty.” They say it four times as the four counts of the indictment are read. It felt like I was punched in the stomach. The only way my brain can process it is to focus on strategies for appeal.
The trial lasted four weeks. I testified for a full day and I worked on the case for a year. The subject of the case was Bitcoin Fog, the largest mixer in Bitcoin’s (BTC) history.
