Alleged developer of Tornado Cash arrested in the Netherlands

[Carding]

The US Department of Justice has accused the two founders of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer, Roman Shtorm and Roman Semyonov, of helping criminals (including the North Korean gang Lazarus) launder more than $1 billion in stolen cryptocurrencies. Storm was arrested in Washington, and Semyonov was charged in absentia.

Let me remind you that back on August 8, 2022, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that in total, more than $ 7 billion was laundered through Tornado Cash, created in 2019, and its operators could not or did not want to enter " effective controls designed to prevent money laundering on a regular basis.”

As a result, sanctions were imposed against the mixer service: all property and property interests of Tornado Cash (located in the USA or owned or controlled by persons from the USA) turned out to be blocked, they now need to be reported to OFAC. Also, US citizens and others in the United States are no longer able to do business with Tornado Cash without special permission from OFAC. In addition, any organizations that are directly or indirectly owned by such people by 50 percent or more were also "banned".

The authorities claimed that the sanctions were due to the fact that funds stolen by hackers as a result of the Harmony hack (about $ 96 million) passed through Tornado Cash, funds received as a result of the compromise of the Ronin blockchain, which is closely associated with the popular NFT game Axie Infinity (more than 600 million dollars, 455 million was laundered through the mixer), as well as about 7.8 million dollars received during the compromise of the Nomad cryptocurrency bridge.

As now reported by the US Department of Justice, one of the founders of the mixer, 34-year-old Roman Storm, was arrested last Wednesday in the state of Washington, where he lives. The other defendant, 35-year-old Roman Semyonov, a Russian citizen, remains at large. The Office of Foreign Assets Control has announced sanctions against Semyonov for providing support to the North Korean government.

Storm and Semyonov are believed to have founded Tornado Cash in 2019 with Aleksey Pertsev, who was arrested in the Netherlands last August on money laundering charges.

Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. The maximum penalty for each of these charges is 20 years in prison.

Also, the founders of Tornado Cash are accused of conspiring to run an unlicensed money transfer business, and the maximum penalty in this case is up to five years in prison.

“Even after [the creators of Tornado Cash] learned that the Lazarus gang was laundering hundreds of millions of dollars of stolen virtual currency through their mixer service, the founders of Tornado Cash continued to develop and promote the service and did not take meaningful steps to reduce its use in illegal purposes,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.

“By publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semyonov actually knew they were helping hackers and scammers hide the fruits of their crimes,” said Attorney Damian Williams. “Today’s allegations are a reminder that money laundering through cryptocurrency transactions is against the law and those who engage in such laundering will be held accountable.”

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One of the founders of Tornado Cash mixer Roman Storm was released on bail. This was announced by his lawyer Brian Klein.

“I am pleased to announce that my client Roman Storm has already been released on bail,” said Brian Klein.

He added that he remains "very disappointed" that prosecutors charged Storm "with helping to develop software."

“Their new theory has dangerous implications for all software developers,” he added.

 

[Lord777]

A group of six users of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer filed an appeal in a US court after the decision that the US Treasury Department has the right to add the service to the list of those subject to sanctions.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs Joseph Van Loon, Tyler Almeida, Alexander Fisher, Preston Van Loon, Kevin Vitale, and Nate Welch filed their application with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The appealed decision of the federal court of Texas was issued in August. Then the court ruled that Tornado Cash can be sanctioned under the authority of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Lawyers claim that the US Treasury Department "expanded its powers beyond recognition" by putting the Tornado Cash cryptomixer on the sanctions list.

The plaintiffs are sure that smart contracts are considered immutable and are not owned by anyone. Tornado Cash itself has no legally recognized interests in using these smart contracts. Paul Grewal, general counsel of the largest American crypto exchange Coinbase, supported the plaintiffs efforts, saying that the appeals court should carefully consider the claim.

"Ordinary Americans do extraordinary and admirable things. With the support of Coinbase and many other players in the crypto market, the plaintiffs appealed to the court of appeal to challenge the sanctions against the immutable Tornado Cash software," Greuel explained in the social network.

The US Treasury blacklisted Tornado Cash back in August 2022, which caused outrage among users and participants in the crypto industry. Last fall, the non-profit organization Coin Center filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Finance for blocking Tornado Cash, but lost the case in federal court in Florida. On November 6, a group of lawyers filed a complaint with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

 

[Brother]

The co-founder of cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, has launched a fundraising campaign to cover his legal costs in a case with US federal authorities.

Roman Storm announced on the social network X the launch of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to raise money to hire a lawyer. In his appeal, the developer of Tornado Cash asked subscribers to help him cover legal costs after US federal agents forcibly entered his home. The video with Storm has already received more than 1 million views on the Internet.

The website of the new fundraising fund states that the arrests of Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev are considered a direct attack on developments that use open source code. This could have devastating consequences for other developers who write and publish similar code.

Former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who has lived in Russia since 2013, supported the creation of a fund to help Roman Storm. He wrote in X that if the crypto community has the opportunity to help, it should be done. Privacy should not be a crime, Snowden said.

If you can help, please help. Privacy is not a crime. https://t.co/R4vauNLRB4 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 23, 2024

 

[Teacher]

Thousands of crypto investors froze in anticipation of an answer, whether their assets suffered.

The developers of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer based on smart contracts, warned users who made deposits through IPFS gateways between January 1 and February 24 about potential fraud.

According to the developers, at this time, attackers could intercept information about deposits in Tornado Cash and redirect it to a server controlled by them. The reason is that a hidden fragment with malicious JavaScript content was added to the code submitted by the Tornado Cash developer community.

As noted, this code was discovered in a proposal for the development of the ecosystem from one of the developers of Tornado Cash. According to the team, it was specifically added to intercept and redirect deposit data.

In a separate post published on the Media platform, the developers provided a detailed description of exactly how the attackers used this code to intercept information about deposits and then redirect funds.

To prevent such incidents from happening again, the developers recommend that users who made transactions via IPFS during the specified period change their deposit records. They also call on TORN token holders to block any ecosystem development proposals coming from this developer.

When using local interfaces for interacting with the contract, the risks of compromise are minimal, since code changes are easy to track, the developers note.

The current situation raises concerns about the security of the Tornado Cash ecosystem, especially given the fact that an attacker managed to inject malicious code into the official ecosystem development proposal.

Experts believe that such incidents can negatively affect the reputation of decentralized financial services. Although supporters of Tornado Cash claim that this situation also demonstrates the ability of the community to quickly respond to emerging threats.

One way or another, given the huge scale of the Tornado Cash audience, the consequences of the incident can be very serious both for the ecosystem itself and for the entire decentralized finance industry.

It is still unclear whether the attackers managed to gain access to any significant amounts of funds of Tornado Cash users. But the very fact of the compromise raises concerns and requires further thorough investigation.

It is not superfluous to recall that the Tornado Cash platform itself has been under US sanctions since 2022 due to its repeated assistance to cybercriminals in laundering illegally obtained funds.

 

[Teacher]

Thousands of crypto investors froze in anticipation of an answer, whether their assets suffered.

The developers of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer based on smart contracts, warned users who made deposits through IPFS gateways between January 1 and February 24 about potential fraud.

According to the developers, at this time, attackers could intercept information about deposits in Tornado Cash and redirect it to a server controlled by them. The reason is that a hidden fragment with malicious JavaScript content was added to the code submitted by the Tornado Cash developer community.

As noted, this code was discovered in a proposal for the development of the ecosystem from one of the developers of Tornado Cash. According to the team, it was specifically added to intercept and redirect deposit data.

In a separate post published on the Media platform , the developers provided a detailed description of exactly how the attackers used this code to intercept information about deposits and then redirect funds.

To prevent such incidents from happening again, the developers recommend that users who made transactions via IPFS during the specified period change their deposit records. They also call on TORN token holders to block any ecosystem development proposals coming from this developer.

When using local interfaces for interacting with the contract, the risks of compromise are minimal, since code changes are easy to track, the developers note.

The current situation raises concerns about the security of the Tornado Cash ecosystem, especially given the fact that an attacker managed to inject malicious code into the official ecosystem development proposal.

Experts believe that such incidents can negatively affect the reputation of decentralized financial services. Although supporters of Tornado Cash claim that this situation also demonstrates the ability of the community to quickly respond to emerging threats.

One way or another, given the huge scale of the Tornado Cash audience, the consequences of the incident can be very serious both for the ecosystem itself and for the entire decentralized finance industry.

It is still unclear whether the attackers managed to gain access to any significant amounts of funds of Tornado Cash users. But the very fact of the compromise raises concerns and requires further thorough investigation.

It is not superfluous to recall that the Tornado Cash platform itself has been under US sanctions since 2022 due to its repeated assistance to cybercriminals in laundering illegally obtained funds.

 

[Teacher]

Hiding in the blockchain did not work out-analysts revealed the insidious plans of cyber bandits.

According to the latest data from the blockchain research company Elliptic, the Lazarus hacker group from North Korea has again returned to using the Tornado Cash service to launder stolen funds. The amount of $23 million stolen during the attack on the HTX cryptocurrency exchange in November was recently withdrawn through this service.

Tornado Cash, a service for mixing cryptocurrencies, was sanctioned by the US authorities in August 2022, but this did not prevent its further operation due to its decentralized structure. Sanctions against a similar service Sinbad.io They were introduced by the US Treasury Department in November last year.

The Lazarus Group's repeated appeal to Tornado Cash highlights the limited number of large-scale mixing services left in operation after the active actions of law enforcement agencies. Elliptic notes that hackers made more than 60 transactions worth more than $23 million through Tornado Cash, trying to hide the traces of money movement.

Using services like Tornado Cash and Sinbad.io it allows North Korean cybercriminals to disguise the source of stolen funds and legalize them. According to the US government, such actions help circumvent international sanctions related to the North Korean regime's military programs.

Over the past three years, hacking groups linked to the DPRK have stolen colossal amounts of money in cryptocurrency: approximately $1.7 billion in 2022 and about $1 billion in 2023.

Elliptic continues to track the movement of the stolen $112.5 million since the HTX attack in November. The stolen cryptocurrency reportedly didn't move until March 13, when transactions via Tornado Cash were discovered. Other blockchain security companies have also confirmed the transfer of funds.

Elliptic's research highlights the importance of monitoring and analyzing cryptocurrency transactions to ensure the security of digital assets and counter the financing of malicious activities on the international stage.

In an attempt to confuse the tracks, hackers can wait for a long time, and then transfer money from one crypto wallet to another. Nevertheless, blockchain experts are always on the lookout: they are always ready to inform law enforcement authorities where exactly the stolen cryptocurrency was sent.

 

[Teacher]

Dutch authorities have charged Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, claiming that he helped launder $1.2 billion of illegal funds through a cryptocurrency mixer. This is reported by local media.

The report mentions 36 illegal, according to the prosecution, transactions.

One of these transfers in the amount of 175 ETH is allegedly related to the hacking of the Ronin sidechain involved in the Axie Infinity blockchain game in March 2022. Then the protocol lost $625 million.

In addition, the charges include victims of hacking decentralized protocols Harmony and Nomad.

Pertsev's trial will take place on March 26 in the Netherlands.

• Source: https://www.dlnews.com/articles/peo...egram&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=

Recall that in August 2022, OFAC added Tornado Cash to the sanctions list for participating in the laundering of criminal funds worth more than $7 billion.

In the same month, Alexey Pertsev was arrested. In April 2023, his measure of restraint was changed to house arrest.

Later, the US authorities also filed charges against the co-founders of mixer Roman Storm and Roman Semenov. The first was subsequently released on bail. The second remained at large, but was sanctioned.

Since January 2024, Storm and Pertsev are collecting $1.5 million for lawyers. The JusticeDAO Foundation has been created for this purpose. The initiative was supported in particular by former NSA and CIA employee Edward Snowden, as well as members of the crypto community.

In February, the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform closed its fundraising campaign for Tornado Cash, citing the risk to its users.

 

[Teacher]

The Dutch prosecutor's office has requested a 64-month prison sentence for Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev, who is accused of laundering $1.2 billion. This is reported by CoinDesk.

The final verdict is scheduled for May 14.

Pertsev is charged with conducting at least 36 illegal transactions through cryptomixer in the period from July 9, 2019 to August 10, 2022.

The co-founders of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm and Roman Semyonov, were also previously charged with money laundering and violating sanctions in the United States. The first was released on bail. The second remained at large, but was sanctioned.

 

[Father]

Lawyers for Roman Storm, the co-founder of cryptomixer Tornado Cash, filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. These include conspiracy to launder money, operating without a license, and violating IEEPA.

The defense also referred to the First Amendment to the US Constitution and noted that writing code can be considered an exercise of the right to freedom of speech.

"In essence, this prosecution is an unprecedented attempt to criminalize software development, which Storm and his colleagues had the right to do under the First Amendment. There is and cannot be any evidence that Storm conspired with intruders who later decided to use the software for illegal purposes," the document says.

The defense noted that according to the law, Storm cannot be held responsible for the actions of those who used cryptomixer. The lawyers also stressed that users did not transfer control over their assets and did not pay a commission to Tornado Cash.

• Source: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.604938/gov.uscourts.nysd.604938.30.0.pdf

 

[Father]

Anonymous winner of the second season of the cryptocurrency survival game " Crypto: The Game" under the nickname Player 733 donated its prize of 71.8 ETH (about $210,000 at the time of the transaction) to the developers of the Tornado Cash mixer Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm. This is also reported by Decryp.

The season titled "Anon Island" ended on April 17. Participants through in-game NFTs voted to transfer funds to the Tornado Cash legal defense Fund. The transfer has already been sent to the fund's wallet.

"We, the custodians of #733, acting on behalf of the game's 171 jurors, believe that code is equivalent to a word, open source is not a crime, and privacy is a fundamental human right," the attached message reads.

 

[Father]

A panel of judges in the Dutch city of ' s-Hertogenbosch found the creator of Tornado Cash Alexey Pertsev guilty of laundering $1.2 billion. A Russian citizen was sentenced to five years and four months in prison. Lawyers have two weeks to file an appeal.

Alexey Pertsev is charged with conducting at least 36 illegal transactions from July 2019 to August 2022. One of them is related to the hacking of the Ronin blockchain bridge of the Axie Infinity game in 2022. Then, as a result of the attack, hackers stole $600 million in cryptocurrency. The indictment includes a transfer to 175 ETH, which passed through Tornado Cash.

Prosecutor Martine Boerlage of the Dutch National Office for Combating Financial Fraud and Asset Forfeiture said that the accused did not take sufficient measures to prevent the use of the mixer by intruders.

During the trial, Alexey Pertsev's lawyer, Kate Cheng, said that neither the client nor other persons could prevent users from using the mixer for their own purposes. However, the panel of judges did not accept the arguments of the defense, supporting the prosecution of the prosecutor's office.

"Tornado Cash, by its very nature and functioning — is a tool designed for criminals. Under the pretext of ideology, you did not care about the laws and regulations that apply to everyone, feeling untouchable, " one of the judges declared.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash on August 10, 2022. Alexey Pertsev, who lives in a suburb of Amsterdam, was arrested a few days later. As a result, customer funds and the source code of Tornado Cash were blocked, and US tax residents were banned from using the mixer.

Earlier, lawyers for Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash cryptomixer, filed a motion in the New York District Court to dismiss charges against the businessman for facilitating money laundering in the amount of more than $1 billion.

• Source: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/202...xey-pertsev-found-guilty-of-money-laundering/

 

[Father]

The fate of other cryptomixer creators is questionable.

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering by a Dutch court in Hertogenbosch. The court sentenced Pertsev to 64 months in prison.

After the verdict was announced, Pertsev was immediately taken to the pre-trial detention center at the court. He will be held there until he is transferred to the appropriate prison in the Netherlands.

Pertsev can appeal the verdict, which came into force from the moment of announcement. The time he has spent in custody since August 2022 does not appear to be included in the sentence.

The indictment, submitted before the trial, states that from July 9, 2019 to August 10, 2022, Pertsev "systematically engaged in money laundering" and should have at least suspected the criminal origin of illegal transactions on the Tornado Cash platform.

Alexey Pertsev was detained by the Dutch authorities in August 2022 after cryptomixer was blacklisted by the US government. At the time, the US Treasury Department claimed that the service was a key tool for the North Korean hacking group Lazarus, linked to the theft of $625 million from the Axie Infinity project's Ronin network and other major cryptocurrency thefts.

The outcome of the case may affect future lawsuits against other Tornado Cash creators. Roman Storm and Roman Semyonov are also charged with money laundering and violating US sanctions. Storm will appear in court in September, and Semenov has not yet been detained.

 

[Father]

How North Korea finances itself by stealing cryptocurrencies.

In March, North Korea laundered $147.5 million stolen from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange in 2023 through the Tornado Cash cryptomixer. This is reported by Reuters, referring to confidential documents monitoring UN sanctions.

According to the UN, from 2017 to 2024, North Korean hackers carried out 97 cyber attacks on cryptocurrency companies, causing damage worth about $3.6 billion. Among the attacks was an attack on the HTX crypto exchange – in November 2023, hackers stole $147.5 million, and laundered the loot in March 2024. Information about the movement of funds was provided by analysts from PeckShield.

It is noted that in 2024, 11 cases of theft of digital assets totaling $54.7 million were recorded. Most of these thefts were carried out by "IT specialists from the DPRK, accidentally hired by small cryptocurrency companies."

Tornado Cash, a service for mixing cryptocurrencies, was sanctioned by the United States in August 2022, but this did not prevent its further operation due to its decentralized structure. Sanctions against a similar service Sinbad.io They were introduced by the US Treasury Department in November last year. Also in May, Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering and sentenced to 64 months in prison.

 

[Father]

Alexey Pertsev, the developer of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer, appealed the verdict on charges of money laundering. This is reported by CoinDesk.

According to the publication, the appeal went to the Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal. Now the outcome of its consideration is unknown. This may take several months.

Earlier, a court in the Netherlands found Pertsev guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through a mixer between July 2019 and August 2022 and sentenced him to 64 months in prison.

Immediately after the verdict, the developer was taken to prison, but he could have asked to wait for the appeals court at home, the newspaper notes.

 

[Tomcat]

Vitalik Buterin donated 30 ETH for legal support for Tornado Cash developers

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated to the legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.

The Free Alexey & Roman fundraising initiative launched in January on the decentralized platform Juicebox. The transaction was made from the vitalik.eth address associated with Buterin.

At the time of writing, the fund has received 875 payments worth 592.43 ETH (~$2.2 million).

On May 14, a court in the Netherlands found Pertsev guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through a cryptomixer. The developer was sentenced to 64 months in prison. He had been under arrest since August 2022 and only in April 2023 the measure of restraint was changed to house arrest.

The co-founders of Tornado Cash, Storm and Roman Semenov, were also charged with money laundering and violation of sanctions in the United States. The first was released on bail, but he refused to admit his guilt. The second remained free, but was subject to sanctions.

Buterin called Pertsev's sentence an "unfortunate" and "very sad" situation. However, the programmer noted that it could give impetus to rethinking the role of cryptocurrency mixers.

 

[Carding Forum]

Tornado Cash Developer Denied Bail

Alexey Pertsev, the developer of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer, will remain in prison pending an appeal of the verdict in the case of laundering $1.2 billion. This is reported by DLNews.

This decision was made by the Court of Appeal of the city of Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

Pertsev's lawyers argued that there was no risk of his client fleeing and that he needed access to the Internet to prepare for the trial.

 

[Carding Forum]

The Court of the Southern District of New York granted the request of the defense of the co-founder of Tornado Cash Roman Storm to postpone the trial for three months. This is reported by The Block.

The lawyers referred to "complex and new legal and factual issues", "millions of pages of documents", many of which are in Russian and require translation. According to the lawyers, they also need additional time to work with experts who are scheduled to be called to meetings.

According to the prosecution, the defense "significantly inflates" the volume of documents.

"In addition, the public is strongly in favor of a speedy trial, given the interest that this case has aroused among various interested parties," the document says.

The trial was originally scheduled for September 23. The court decided to postpone the date to December 2.

• Source: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.604937/gov.uscourts.nysd.604937.64.0.pdf

• Source: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.604938/gov.uscourts.nysd.604938.65.0.pdf

 

[Friend]

FBI Seeks Russian Programmer Suspected of Laundering $1 Billion

The FBI has put on the international wanted list Russian Roman Semyonov, a 36-year-old native of Novocherkassk, on suspicion of participating in criminal activities related to conspiracy to launder money, violate sanctions and violate business rules.

According to the FBI, Semyonov, being an expert in blockchain technology, used his skills to develop the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer. The service, originally positioned as a tool to ensure the anonymity of transactions, in practice has turned into a major money laundering mechanism. More than $1 billion in criminal proceeds were laundered through Tornado Cash.

In April and May 2022, the Tornado Cash service was allegedly used by the Lazarus Group, a sanctioned North Korean cybercrime organization, to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds, the FBI suggests. Semenov and his accomplices allegedly knew that the Tornado Cash service they operated was involved in these sanctions-violating transactions. They allegedly continued to operate the service and facilitate the holding of hundreds of millions of dollars, helping the Lazarus Group transfer criminal proceeds from a cryptocurrency wallet that was designated as blocked property by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

On August 21, 2023, a US federal court issued an arrest warrant for Semyonov. He faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, running an unlicensed money transmitter business, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Currently, Semyonov's whereabouts are unknown: he may be in Russia, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates - in these countries he has established connections. A wanted poster describes him as a white man with brown/brown hair and green eyes, although it is possible that he may have changed his appearance.

• Source: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wcc/roman-semenov
• Source: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wcc/roman-semenov/semenovrussian.pdf/@@download/file/semenovRussian.pdf

 

[Man]

Vitalik Buterin donated 100 ETH to protect Tornado Cash developers
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has donated 100 ETH (~$242,000) to the legal defense fund for Tornado Cash developers Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.

The donation was received on Storm's support page. According to it, the donation amount at the time of writing is 327.51 ETH (~$793,000). Pertsev's page has another 56.19 ETH (~$136,000).

"I can't describe how much this means to me. Thank you for your continued support", Storm wrote.

This is Buterin's third donation to protect Tornado Cash developers. In May, he donated 30 ETH to the same Free Alexey & Roman fund, launched in January on the decentralized Juicebox platform.

In August 2022, OFAC added the Tornado Cash website to its sanctions list, which, according to the agency, was used by criminals to launder cryptocurrency worth more than $7 billion. Over $455 million of this is related to the activities of the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group.

That same month, Dutch law enforcement arrested mixer developer Alexey Pertsev. On May 14, 2024, he was found guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through Tornado Cash and sentenced to 64 months in prison. In July, the court denied Pertsev bail pending an appeal of the decision. Storm and another co-founder of the mixer, Roman Semenov, have also been charged with money laundering and violating US sanctions . As a reminder, the former was released on bail and refused to admit his guilt. Semenov remained free, but was subject to sanctions.

 

[Man]

Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm will not stand trial on money laundering and sanctions-violating charges until April 2025.

In a November 1 conference call in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Catherine Polk Failla ordered the postponement of Storm's trial until April 14, 2025. The legal team of the Tornado Cash co-founder has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, alleging that they are based solely on him writing code for a cryptocurrency mixing service.