Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm Will Stand Trial, DOJ Says
The Department of Justice will proceed with charges against Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, for conspiring to commit money laundering, sanctions evasion, and transmitting criminally derived funds. A trial is set in Manhattan within two months. The DOJ will drop one charge related to operating an unlicensed money transmitter business, which conflicted with 2019 FinCEN guidance stating that non-custodial entities like Tornado Cash are not money transmitters. Advocates argue that developers of neutral technologies should not face unreasonable criminal standards. The DOJ recently indicated a shift in focus towards prosecuting bad actors using crypto services rather than the platforms themselves. Tornado Cash was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury but was removed from the sanctions list after a court ruling found the agency overstepped its authority. A Dutch court had sentenced another developer, Alexey Pertsev, to 64 months for money laundering, but he was released pending appeal.
