Roman Storm of Tornado Cash must go through a trial as the judge turns down the plea for dismissal
After a federal court dismissed his plea to dismiss the allegations against Roman Storm, a developer and co-founder of the bitcoin mixing platform Tornado Cash, he is getting ready for a criminal trial. Should Storm be found guilty of all counts, he may spend up to 45 years behind bars.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla decided during a recent phone conference that the claims made by the U.S. government are sufficient to move on. Storm and co-founder Roman Semenov was accused by the U.S. authorities in August with many counts including conspiracy to conduct money laundering, conspiracy to violate sanctions, and conspiracy to operate without a valid money-transmitting license.
Judge Failla had doubts about Storm’s claim that his conviction resulted just from his coding efforts. She pointed out that Tornado Cash is supposedly sponsored with the intention of producing profits, thereby contradicting the idea that it is an altruistic endeavor as it is not only a neutral instrument like other financial services.
Legal expert in the realm of cryptocurrencies Jake Chervinsky attacked the decision as negative for software developers, implying it compromises their independence and may lead to a faulty legal precedent. For creators of open-source software, he thinks this case will be important in the legal scene of future.
Storm has kept his innocence, claiming that Tornado Cash is open-source software outside his influence. He underlines his intention to give real users of cryptocurrencies financial privacy. Prosecutors contend, meanwhile, that he profited financially despite knowing the platform was being used for illicit activity.
This prosecution centers on Alexey Pertsev, a third cofounder of Tornado Cash who was convicted to more than five years in jail for allegedly laundering large sums of money over the site. Right now Pertsev is appealing his conviction.
Storm’s lawsuit is highlighting the difficulties and complexity developers in the quickly changing bitcoin sector face as the legal processes play out.
