The lawyer of Roman Storm, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, who was arrested on August 23 on charges of money laundering and other crimes, announced that he was released on bail shortly after being detained by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). These events occurred about a year after the US Department of the Treasury added addresses related to Tornado Cash to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specifically Designated Nationals list, and other developers are facing similar charges.
Lawyer’s Statement on Storm’s Case
Brian Klein, the lawyer for Roman Storm, announced on August 24 in a statement that Storm was released on bail. Klein stated that Storm is still “very disappointed” by the charges because the prosecutors allege that Storm only assisted in software development for Tornado Cash. He added:
“This new legal theory has dangerous implications for all software developers.”
The bail decision came the day after the US Department of Justice announced the arrest of Storm and Roman Semenov, the founders of Tornado Cash, along with charges against them on August 23. US officials accused developers, in particular, of operating Tornado Cash services and laundering more than $1 billion in “illicit proceeds.” Additional charges are related to “conspiring to commit sanctions violations” and “conspiring to conduct an unlicensed money transmitting business.”
Intense Pressure on the Tornado Cash Team
The latest developments came about a year after the US Department of the Treasury added addresses related to Tornado Cash to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Specifically Designated Nationals list. Subsequently, authorities in the Netherlands arrested another Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev. After serving approximately nine months in prison, the developer was released in April 2023.
Pertsev and Storm are not the only developers being prosecuted for their involvement with Tornado Cash. Another co-founder, Roman Semenov, was also added to OFAC’s Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list on August 23. However, the developer has not yet been arrested.
