Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Needs More Money for Trial

Storm faces up to 45 years in prison on charges related to money laundering and sanctions violations, and saw his legal costs soar to $3.5 million. Despite raising over $2.1 million so far, Storm still faces financial hurdles. His case is widely seen as a landmark legal battle over software freedom and privacy rights. Meanwhile, in France, prosecutors launched an investigation into Elon Musk’s platform X for allegedly manipulating algorithms to extract user data and enable foreign interference. This comes amid broader European regulatory pressure, with the EU and national courts scrutinizing X’s transparency and content moderation practices. Roman Storm Needs More Donations Roman Storm, co-founder of the crypto privacy protocol Tornado Cash, is urgently trying to raise $500,000 ahead of his trial on July 14. If convicted, he could face up to 45 years in prison. Storm is charged with money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. On X, Storm revealed that his legal costs have surged to $3.5 million due to a trial expected to span four weeks., which is double the original estimate. Things are taking longer than expected due to “complex legal arguments and unforeseen witnesses and evidence.” Storm explained that his legal defense is about more than just personal freedom, and his team is working “nonstop to defend code as free speech, protect software development, and push back against government overreach.” The legal defense fund, Free Pertsev & Storm, initially projected a $2 million cost , but Storm now says that is a conservative estimate. So far, $2.1 million—or about 61% of the total goal—has been raised, mostly through donations in Ethereum (ETH), which has seen a modest price increase. The Ethereum Foundation already contributed $500,000 and pledged to match community donations up to $750,000. In a show of solidarity, MetaCartel DAO donated all remaining funds from its treasury to Storm’s legal defense. (Source: Freeromanstorm.com ) Despite these efforts, Storm still faces big financial challenges. His legal team recently attempted to delay the trial by arguing that the prosecution disclosed a witness past the deadline. However, Judge Katherine Failla denied the motion. The case has galvanized parts of the crypto community, with lobbying groups like the DeFi Education Fund urging the government to drop what they call a “lawless prosecution” of open-source software developers. As the trial looms, Storm’s case is shaping up to be a critical battle over privacy rights, software freedom, and the future of decentralized technologies. Storm Trial Could Exclude Sanctions Storm’s case also recently made headlines after Judge Katherine Failla suggested that she is inclined to exclude any mention of the 2022 US Treasury sanctions against Tornado Cash from the courtroom. The sanctions were imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), but were withdrawn earlier this year after a federal judge ruled in favor of a civil lawsuit brought by Tornado Cash users. According to reports from Inner City Press, Judge Failla believes that allowing references to those now-rescinded sanctions could unfairly imply Storm had a “consciousness of guilt” for something that is no longer considered unlawful. While the judge seems ready to block references to the OFAC sanctions, she indicated that she is unlikely to prevent the prosecution from mentioning North Korea and the Lazarus Group hackers. These parties are alleged to have used Tornado Cash to launder stolen cryptocurrency, which formed part of the broader narrative the government is expected to present during the trial. Storm was arrested in 2023 , and his trial could now last up to four weeks. Overall, the case is being very closely watched by the crypto community for its implications on the legal status of open-source software and privacy tools. (Source: Freeromanstorm.com ) Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon is also facing federal charges in the US, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, market manipulation, and money laundering, after his extradition from Montenegro. France Investigates X Storm and Tornado Cash are not alone in their legal battle. French authorities opened a formal investigation into X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, over allegations that it used its algorithm to enable foreign interference and fraudulently extract user data. The probe was announced by Magistrate Laure Beccuau on Friday. It was triggered by two separate complaints that were filed on Jan. 12—one from French lawmaker Éric Bothorel, a member of President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble Pour La Republique party, and another from an unnamed senior government official. Bothorel shared in a public statement on X that he believed the platform displayed an “informational bias” that appeared to serve Elon Musk’s political interests, and suggested that this could only have been achieved through deliberate manipulation of X’s algorithms. He praised the French justice system for acting decisively to address potential foreign influence campaigns operating through digital channels. The case has been handed over to France’s J3 cybercrime unit under the General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie. Investigators will focus on two central charges: tampering with an automated data processing system and fraudulently extracting data from such a system. J3 is known for its previous high-profile investigation that led to the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in August of 2024. This investigation now adds to the mounting regulatory scrutiny Musk’s platform faced across Europe. Since acquiring X in 2022, Musk frequently clashed with European regulators. Elon Musk In February, two German NGOs won a legal case compelling X to share public engagement data with researchers studying election interference. Meanwhile, the European Union launched an investigation into X for potential violations of the Digital Services Act , which mandates that large online platforms swiftly remove illegal content and be transparent about their algorithms. These legal and regulatory challenges could threaten the platform’s ability to secure approval for financial operations in the EU, which could seriously complicate its expansion plans.

Source: Coinpaper