Tornado Cash Co-Founder Denies Wrongdoing Ahead of Trial

Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing as his criminal trial approaches. In a recent interview, Storm asserted that the U.S. government is prosecuting him for creating open-source code, not for any criminal actions. He faces three felony charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions law. Federal prosecutors claim that Tornado Cash, which Storm co-founded, was used to launder over $1 billion in illicit funds, including money linked to North Korea’s hacker group Lazarus.

Storm maintains that he did not knowingly facilitate any criminal activity. He explained that Tornado Cash was designed to protect user privacy and, once deployed, operated autonomously and outside of his control. “I did not have any contact whatsoever with any criminals, any criminal organizations, any illicit actors, or any North Koreans,” he stated. “We didn’t have control over what happened. If someone did something illicit, we couldn’t stop it.”

Storm was arrested in August 2023. His fellow developer, Alexey Pertsev, was convicted of money laundering last year and sentenced to 64 months in prison. Tornado Cash’s third co-founder, Roman Semenov, is also charged but remains at large. Since his arrest, Storm has been under strict bail conditions and has been cut off from the financial system, with no bank accounts or access to crypto wallets. “I’m being punished before being proven guilty,” he said.

Storm warned that a conviction in his case could have broader implications for developers and open-source innovation in the U.S. crypto space. “If I lose my case, DeFi dies with me,” he said, arguing that treating developers like criminals sets a dangerous precedent. His trial is set to begin on July 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. While Storm kept much of his defense strategy under wraps, he stated that his team will argue that writing code is free speech and that creating open-source tools isn’t a crime, even if misused.

Support for Storm has continued to grow, with industry figures including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin publicly backing his defense and donating to his legal fund. The outcome of Storm’s trial will be closely watched, as it could set a significant precedent for the future of decentralized finance and open-source development.