Celestia (tia) 
Roman Storm, co-founder of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, is pushing back against accusations of running a money laundering operation and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 29, Storm’s attorneys argued that he did not conspire to launder funds.
According to Storm’s lawyers, Tornado Cash was made publicly available before being used by hacker groups sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury, leaving Storm with little control over preventing sanctioned entities from using it.
Prosecutors claim that Tornado Cash assisted the North Korean Lazarus Group in evading U.S. sanctions, allegedly helping finance the regime’s nuclear program.
Storm’s lawyers also argued that Tornado Cash was not a money-transmitting business as it did not charge a fee for sending payments, and users had full control of their cryptocurrency.
They stated that Storm aimed to create software solutions to ensure financial privacy for law-abiding cryptocurrency users and that the charges against him should be dismissed.
Storm pleaded not guilty to all allegations in September 2023 and was released on a $2 million bond, with travel restrictions within specified regions of New York, New Jersey, Washington, and California.
The U.S. government continues its crackdown on cryptocurrency mixing services, although the crypto community values mixers for enhancing privacy and confidentiality in legitimate business transactions.
At one point, the Arbitrum DAO proposed transferring approximately $1.3 million in ARB tokens to cover Storm’s legal expenses, praising Tornado Cash for providing secure and private transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
In February, the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe canceled a fundraiser for the Tornado Cash case due to a breach of its service terms, refunding all contributions despite raising $30,000 in support.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022 for laundering illicit funds, with U.S. officials estimating that over $7 billion was laundered through the mixer, primarily by hackers from the North Korean Lazarus group.
