Bitcoin Fog operator’s conviction upheld without Chainalysis disclosing source code

The Bitcoin Fog appeal upheld expert testimony based on proprietary wallet tracing, with explained methods and corroboration supporting its admission. Roman Sterlingov’s effort to obtain the software’s source code failed on the record presented to the courts.Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis drew attention to that result in October 13 commentary, presenting it as further validation of its Reactor software. The judgment itself came on September 25, when the D.C. Circuit affirmed Sterlingov’s convictions and 150-month sentence for operating Bitcoin Fog, a service that mixed users’ bitcoin to obscure transaction trails.The decision matters because it explains how proprietary analysis became usable courtroom evidence and why this particular disclosure challenge failed. Its reasoning keeps three questions separate: whether expert testimony is reliable enough to admit, whether addresses have been attributed correctly, and what that evidence establishes about a person.How the court assessed wallet tracingUnder Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the party offering a qualified expert must demonstrate, more likely than not, that the testimony will help the fact-finder, rests on sufficient f...