Tornado Cash Co-Founder Storm Faces Trial Amid Industry Support

With less than two weeks remaining before his criminal trial, Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, broke his silence in a rare interview, expressing his uncertainty about whether he will testify in his own defense. Storm stated that his legal team will address allegations that he personally profited from illicit funds through the crypto-mixing service. However, he did not confirm whether he would take the stand himself, stating, “This is the decision that we will make. I don’t have a 100% answer right now. I may or may not.”

Storm faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating U.S. sanctions. These charges stem from the Treasury Department's decision to sanction Tornado Cash in 2022, alleging that the service aided North Korea’s Lazarus Group in laundering hundreds of millions in stolen crypto. While Storm awaits his trial in the Southern District of New York, his co-defendants face varying outcomes. Developer Roman Semenov remains at large, while co-founder Alexey Pertsev was sentenced to over five years in prison earlier this year.

The crypto industry has rallied behind Storm, viewing his case as a threat to open-source developers and financial privacy. The Ethereum Foundation has pledged $500,000 to his defense, with additional donations from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Paradigm’s Matt Huang, helping Storm raise over $750,000 as of June 26. Storm acknowledged the mental toll of the case, stating, “I’ve got a lot of mental damage from this case, obviously. You believed there’s common sense, that there’s a misunderstanding… and then you’re hit with these harsh things. I’ll definitely need time to recover.”

His trial is set to begin on July 14. Earlier in May, U.S. prosecutors announced they would not pursue part of the criminal case against Storm, focusing instead on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicated it would drop the allegation that Storm operated an unlicensed money transmitting business. However, it will continue to pursue other charges related to money laundering, unlicensed money transmission, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

This shift in enforcement aligns with a policy memo issued in April, which called for ending “regulation by prosecution.” The memo instructed federal prosecutors to avoid bringing cases that impose financial regulations through criminal charges, leaving such oversight to civil regulators. Instead, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will focus on cases involving investor harm or criminal abuse of crypto, such as terrorism financing or hacking. This approach excludes many registration-based violations against crypto intermediaries but still targets platforms used for illicit purposes.

Storm has challenged the charges on First Amendment grounds, arguing that building open-source software should not be criminalized. Tornado Cash is a decentralized protocol that provides privacy for transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to make anonymous transfers. While private financial transactions are legal, Tornado Cash has been exploited by some users for money laundering.