Roman Storm, a developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash, will face a criminal trial regarding his creation of the crypto-mixing platform after a judge denied his motion to dismiss the case brought by the United States government.
In a telephone conference on Sept. 26, New York district court judge Katherine Polk Failla rejected Storm’s bid to dismiss three federal charges, stating that government prosecutors had presented plausible allegations against him.
Storm and fellow co-founder Roman Semenov were charged in August with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Judge Failla remarked that at this stage, she “cannot simply accept Mr. Storm’s narrative that he is being prosecuted merely for writing code,” adding that she was convinced Tornado Cash was distinct from other financial services or money-transmitting firms.
She further stated that based on the charges, the platform “was not an altruistic venture.” The judge highlighted the Justice Department’s claim that Tornado Cash received nearly $1 million in funding from a venture capital firm with the expectation of sharing in the profits.
Jake Chervinsky, the chief legal officer of crypto venture firm Variant, expressed on X that Judge Failla’s ruling was “an assault on the freedom of software developers everywhere.”
“This will go down in history as a perversion of law and a travesty of justice,” he added. “It will go down on appeal, if that’s what it takes.”
Storm, who has pleaded not guilty, argued in his March dismissal request that Tornado Cash was open-source and beyond his control. He characterized himself as a developer who created software “to provide financial privacy to legitimate cryptocurrency users.”
Prosecutors disputed this characterization, claiming that Storm “reaped millions of dollars in profits” while being aware that the platform was used for illicit money laundering.
Storm’s trial is set for Dec. 2, and he could face a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Tornado Cash’s third co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, was found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through the platform and sentenced to five years and four months in prison in May. He is currently preparing an appeal against his conviction.
