Tornado Cash Co-founder Remains Undecided on Testifying at Upcoming Trial

Key Takeaways

• Roman Storm will stand trial in New York on July 14 facing money laundering and conspiracy charges
• Storm remains undecided on whether to testify in his own defense
• The crypto community has raised over $750,000 for Storm’s legal fund
• Co-defendant Alexey Pertsev was sentenced to over 5 years in prison in the Netherlands

With his criminal trial in the United States set to begin in less than two weeks, Roman Storm, co-founder and developer of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, appeared in a recently published video interview.

During the interview, Storm indicated that his legal team intends to challenge the prosecution’s allegations that he personally profited from illicit funds processed by Tornado Cash. However, he explicitly declined to reveal a key strategic decision: whether he will personally testify in his own defense against the serious charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions.

“That’s a decision we’ll make when we get to the stand,” Storm said. “I don’t have a 100% answer right now. I may or may not.”

Case Background

In August 2023, U.S. authorities indicted developers Roman Semenov and Storm. This action followed the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioning of Tornado Cash in 2022. OFAC accused the service of facilitating the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, including funds stolen by the North Korea-based Lazarus Group hacking collective.

Roman Semenov, another Tornado Cash developer named in the same indictment as Storm, remains at large. Meanwhile, Alexey Pertsev, another co-founder and developer, was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands and sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Community Support

Since his arrest, Storm has received significant support from many within the cryptocurrency industry. Critics of the indictment view it as an alarming attack on open-source software developers and the fundamental right to financial privacy.

Prominent figures, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, venture capitalist Matt Huang (founder of Paradigm), and the Ethereum Foundation itself, have contributed substantial amounts to Storm’s legal defense fund. Reports indicate the fund held over $750,000 by late June 2024.

Psychological Impact of the Case

“Obviously I’ve been hurt mentally a lot by this case,” Storm revealed. “It hurts a lot. You believe in something, you believe there’s common sense, there’s misunderstanding, and you’re facing these harsh things in your life. I definitely need time to recover before going back to what I love.”

Storm’s trial is scheduled to begin at the Southern District Court of New York on July 14.