The criminal trial for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm kicked off Monday in a Manhattan federal court. Storm faces accusations of helping cybercriminals launder over $1 billion in crypto, including funds linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Prosecutors say he violated sanctions, ran an illegal money-transmitting business, and conspired to commit money laundering. If convicted, Storm could face up to 45 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Storm helped build Tornado Cash, a privacy tool on Ethereum that uses zero-knowledge proofs to hide crypto transaction trails. Prosecutors allege the platform enabled criminals to obscure stolen funds, including $600 million from the infamous Ronin Bridge hack. According to reports, Storm ran Tornado without implementing any compliance procedures and disregarded warning signs.
Legal Clash Over Digital Evidence
The trial took a tense turn as digital messages were presented by the prosecution to support their case. Among them, a message on Telegram, apparently referring to the Ronin hack, became central. The defence team say that his client did not write the communication; rather, he was just forwarding it.
In addition, they also attempted to prevent evidence obtained from Apple, X, and Dragonfly from being used, arguing that it was private. However, the prosecutors maintained that these were legitimate business records. Judge Katherine Polk Failla seemed inclined to allow the evidence to be admitted.
Privacy Advocates Rally in Support
Storm has rallied a bit of backing from the privacy and cryptocurrency communities, despite the ongoing accusations. To bolster his legal defense, supporters have managed to raise nearly $1.9 million, with the Ethereum Foundation stepping in to contribute a generous $500,000.
Storm followers are insistent that the maker of an open-source code had not in any way influenced its use. From their standpoint, this case is standing against privacy in general, and software freedom in particular.
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