Tornado Cash developer calls his lawsuit a ‘terrifying criminalization of privacy’
Ad Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, faces prosecution for charges including operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He argues this case criminalizes software development and privacy in crypto transactions. Storm was arrested on August 23, 2023, with a trial scheduled for April 14, 2025. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the removal of Tornado Cash-linked addresses from the US Treasury's sanctions list, stating that sanctioning the protocol does not prevent misuse by bad actors. Storm filed a motion to dismiss his charges following this ruling. Vitalik Buterin expressed support for Storm and fellow developer Alexey Pertsev, emphasizing the importance of protecting developers. Concerns were raised about the ambiguous interpretation of Section 1960 regarding money transmission, with legal experts arguing that non-custodial protocols like Tornado Cash should not be classified as money transmitters. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suggested authorities should target actual wrongdoers instead of developers.
