Roman Storm Seeks Additional $1.5M as Tornado Cash Trial Intensifies

Roman Storm, co-founder of the crypto privacy protocol Tornado Cash, has issued an urgent appeal for another $1.5 million in donations to continue funding his legal defense . Now in its third week, the trial in Manhattan has become one of the most closely watched legal battles in the crypto industry, with major implications for developers of open-source privacy tools. In a post shared on July 26 via X, Storm said legal costs have been “piling up fast” and that his team has been “working around the clock” to prepare for what could be a precedent-setting case. “It sounds [huge], but I need again ~$1.5mm,” he wrote, while adding that the team has “forgotten what normal sleep feels like.” The crypto community has so far raised over $3.9 million to support Storm’s defense. According to his official website, the campaign has reached 65% of its updated $5 million goal. The Ethereum Foundation has also contributed significantly, hitting its own $750,000 target to aid the legal battle. Trial Raises Broader Questions on Crypto Privacy The trial, which began on July 14 in the Southern District of New York, is expected to conclude by August 11. U.S. prosecutors allege that Storm conspired to launder money, violated U.S. sanctions, and operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business through his role in the creation of Tornado Cash. However, Storm’s legal team argues that Tornado Cash is a decentralized, immutable protocol—not a business—and therefore not subject to traditional regulatory oversight. They’re relying heavily on 2019 guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which stated that developers of privacy software are not required to register as money transmitters. Furthermore, the defense is emphasizing that writing and publishing code is a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment. Legal Pressure on Tornado Cash Founders Mounts Storm created Tornado Cash in 2019 alongside co-developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Semenov, inspired in part by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s advocacy for enhanced crypto privacy tools. Pertsev was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands in May 2024 and is currently appealing under electronic monitoring . On the other hand, Semenov remains at large and is listed on the FBI’s wanted list. Tornado Cash had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2022 due to its alleged use by the North Korean-linked Lazarus Group. However, those sanctions were overturned in January following a successful civil action. The post Roman Storm Seeks Additional $1.5M as Tornado Cash Trial Intensifies appeared first on TheCoinrise.com .

Source: The Coin Rise