Bitprismia

‘If I lose, DeFi dies with me:’ Tornado Cash co-founder doubles down on innocence ahead of trial

2025-07-04 07:38:00

Main Idea

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm faces a criminal trial in the U.S., denying allegations of facilitating illicit funds and arguing the platform operated autonomously, while industry figures support his defense.

Key Points

1. Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, denies knowingly facilitating criminal activity, stating the platform operated autonomously.

2. Storm was arrested in August 2023; fellow developer Alexey Pertsev was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands, and Roman Semenov remains at large.

3. Storm claims he is being punished before being proven guilty and warns that a loss in his case could negatively impact DeFi.

4. His trial is set for July 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

5. Industry figures, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, have publicly supported Storm and donated to his legal fund.

Description

With his criminal trial just weeks away, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is speaking out and denying any wrongdoing. In a recent interview with Crypto in America, Storm said the U.S. government is prosecuting him for writing open-source code, not for any actual criminal conduct. Facing three felony charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions law, federal prosecutors allege that Tornado Cash , founded by Storm and two others, was used to launde...

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