Judge pushes Tornado Cash co-founder trial to April 2025

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen eye for regulatory matters, I find myself deeply concerned about the ongoing legal battles surrounding Tornado Cash and its co-founders. The prolonged trial of Roman Storm, set to commence in April 2025, raises questions about the intent behind these charges and the future of privacy in the crypto space.


As a crypto investor, I’ve learned that the co-founder and developer of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, won’t face trial for allegations related to money laundering and sanctions violations until as late as April 2025. This gives us all some time to closely follow updates on this situation.

During a telephonic hearing held by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on November 1st, Judge Katherine Polk Failla postponed Storm’s trial to April 14, 2025. The legal representatives for the Tornado Cash co-founder had requested to drop the charges against him, arguing that they were solely based on his work in coding the cryptocurrency mixing service.

In 2023, Roman Semenov, co-founder of Storm and Tornado, was accused by prosecutors of conspiring to carry out activities related to money laundering, violating sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business without proper authorization. This accusation sparked strong reactions from many within the crypto sector.

From Tornado Cash sanctions to charging the creators

In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control labeled Tornado Cash as part of its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). This action came after accusations by the department that Tornado Cash had persistently failed to implement adequate controls to prevent it from laundering funds for harmful cyber actors. Storm and Semenov’s subsequent actions followed this designation.

As of the release date, Semenov was neither in American detention nor on the FBI’s top wanted list. After his arrest in 2023, Storm has been out on a $2-million bond. He has denied guilt for all the allegations against him.

In 2022, law enforcement in the Netherlands apprehended Alexey Pertsev, a co-founder of Tornado Cash, on allegations of money laundering. By May 2024, he was convicted and received a prison sentence exceeding five years.

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2024-11-02 00:42