Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, is set to face a criminal trial as the judge has denied his request for case dismissal. This decision was made during a telephone conference on Sept. 26, with District court Judge Katherine Polk Failla arguing that the United States government’s allegations against Storm are plausible.
Storm, in collaboration with fellow co-founder Roman Semenov, was accused of conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and running an unlicensed money-transmitting business back in August 2023. The judge challenged Storm’s defense posturing as a software developer offering financial privacy to legitimate cryptocurrency users, highlighting instead that Tornado Cash was less altruistic than presented, with allegations of nearly $1 million in funding from expecting-profit venture capital firms.
Significant opposition to these charges has surfaced among crypto-communities, with Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer of crypto venture firm Variant, condemning the ruling as an attack on software developer freedoms.
Storm, who maintains his innocence, has his trial slated for Dec. 2 and could face up to 45 years in prison if found guilty. Meanwhile, Tornado Cash’s third co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, has already been sentenced to over five years in prison for laundering through the platform. Lastly, Roman Semenov, a Russian national, remains elusive.