Tornado Cash Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty to Criminal Charges
- Tornado Cash co-founders have been charged with using the crypto mixer to launder funds for North Korean cybercrime groups.
- Storm will secure a $2 million bail and be subject to strict terms.
- Crypto users believe the Tornado Cash founders are being unjustly persecuted.
Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm has pleaded not guilty to charges filed by US prosecutors. During a court appearance on Wednesday, Storm said he was not guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting firm, and conspiracy to commit sanctions violations as charged by prosecutors.
Storm, who holds dual citizenship in the United States and Russia, will be freed on a $2 million personal recognizance bail that is covered by his Washington property and co-signed by one trusted individual.
According to reports, Storm will be kept under house arrest and subjected to strict regulations as part of his bail. The Tornado Cash co-founder will be subject to routine drug testing and is forbidden from speaking with any co-defendants, witnesses, potential victims, or owning a gun.
Prosecutors claimed Storm and other Tornado Cash cofounders Roman Semenov and Alexey Pertsev used their crypto mixing platform to aid criminals in moving over $1 billion in stolen cryptocurrency, including hundreds of millions for North Korean criminals.
Prosecutors believe prominent North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus leveraged Tornado Cash to bypass US sanctions, allowing the country to fund their illegal weapon project.
Meanwhile, Pertsev was detained by Dutch authorities in August 2022 on accounts of alleged money laundering with the Lazarus Group. He was released in 2023 to await his trial. Interestingly, Semenov’s whereabouts remain unknown.
The case with Tornado Cash has caused a lot of controversy in the crypto world. Some stakeholders, including Coinbase Global and the Blockchain Association, believe the Tornado Cash developers have been targeted in an area they had no control over.
Others believe crypto-mixing services also serve a greater cause. For example, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, openly admitted using the mixer to send money to individuals impacted by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.
Many believe that the recent victories secured by Grayscale and Ripple could be a source of optimism. Interestingly, Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who is overseeing the Tornado Cash case, is also overseeing the case between the SEC and Coinbase.
Lawrence has covered some exciting stories in his career as a journalist, he finds blockchain-related stories very intriguing. He believes Web3 will change the world and wants everyone to be a part of it.
