Defend the right to privacy in Web3
URGENT UPDATE: The U.S. government’s prosecution of Roman Storm, set to begin on April 14th, 2025, in SDNY, risks setting a dangerous precedent for open-source developers, free speech, and financial privacy in decentralized systems.On August 23, 2023, Roman Storm — the US-based co-founder of Tornado Cash — was arrested despite his ongoing cooperation with the US Department of Justice.This arrest happened almost exactly 1 year after the arrest of Alex Pertsev — another Tornado Cash co-founder — by the Dutch authorities, following the August 8, 2022, sanctions imposted against TC by the U. S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).The arrests of Roman Storm and Alex Pertsev are considered a direct attack on the open-source development space and may have devastating consequences for developers who write and publish code. This is why we need to act NOW to protect our right to code. Thank you for your willingness to contribute to this important cause.
Until the Second Trial
Who we are
We at JusticeDAO, Inc. («JusticeDAO») are on the frontlines of the defense effort in legal matters related to Tornado Cash. We have engaged an international team of legal counsel to represent the original TC protocol developers, specifically — Alexey Pertsev and Roman Storm.
In order to ensure the necessary resources are available, we have made arrangements to receive donations from those who wish to contribute to the effort, including in cryptocurrency and fiat currency.
Why is this so important?
TC is an open source software program that uses smart contracts and a cryptographic method known as zero-knowledge proof to enable users to conduct private transactions on the blockchain. This is the first time that OFAC has attempted to treat software code like an entity or person that can be sanctioned. This has raised a number of legal issues that are the subject of ongoing debate. It also resulted in a lawsuit filed against OFAC on behalf of Coinbase employees and others, challenging the sanctions on a number of grounds.
Open source is not a crime
Timeline
Retrial begins
Roman Storm’s retrial begins in Manhattan federal court.
Final pretrial conference
Final pretrial conference scheduled ahead of the upcoming retrial.
Acquittal hearing
Judge Failla heard oral arguments on Roman Storm’s motion for judgment of acquittal. A ruling remains pending.
Roman Storm’s legal team files a Reply to the Government’s Opposition to Motion for Acquittal
- Acquittal on All Counts: The government failed to prove venue in New York.
- No "Business": Tornado Cash was a non-custodial software tool, not a "money transmitting business," as the founders never had custody or control of user funds.
- Free Speech: The prosecution violates the First Amendment by attempting to criminalize the publication of code.
- No Service to Sanctioned Entities: Storm did not provide "services" to the Lazarus Group; he provided a tool (software) available to the public, which sanctioned entities misused without his coordination.
DOJ Response to Acquittal Motion
Prosecutors filed a 113-page brief opposing the acquittal motion and seeking to retry Roman on the deadlocked counts in 2026.
Post-Trial Motion for Acquittal Filed
Roman’s legal team filed a post-trial
motion for acquittal, arguing the government relied on negligence rather than intent.
DOJ Criminal Division Statement
Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, stated developers lacking «ill-intent» shouldn’t face prosecution and that merely writing code isn’t criminal.
Trial concludes with split verdict
The trial concluded with a split verdict. Roman was convicted on conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, but the jury deadlocked on the two most serious charges: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
Trial begins in Manhattan federal court
DOJ Drops Federal Registration Charge
The DOJ dropped its unlicensed money transmission theory (federal registration charge) but continued pursuing the case.
Separate SDNY Case Reveals FinCEN Officials' Views Contradict Prosecutors'
In a separate SDNY case involving a mixer, prosecutors belatedly disclosed that FinCEN officials stated that «FinCEN guidance has generally focused on custody of cryptocurrency in the question of determining whether an entity is acting as a [money transmitting business]» and where a protocol «does not take ‘custody’ of the cryptocurrency by possessing the private keys to any addresses where the cryptocurrency is stored, that would strongly suggest that [the protocol] is NOT acting as an MSB.» This is consistent with Roman’s understanding and that of the industry and undermines the SDNY’s position that custody or control is not required to act as a money transmitting business.
DOJ Issues Memo re: "Ending Regulation By Prosecution"
The memo, issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, states that the DOJ «is not a digital assets regulator» and acknowledged that «the Biden Administration created a particularly uncertain regulatory environment around digital assets.» Per the memo, DOJ «will no longer target virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and offline wallets for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations.» Nevertheless, the SDNY prosecutors are still pursuing their case against Roman.
Tornado Cash sanctions removed
Treasury Department lifts Biden-era sanctions on Tornado Cash, following the Van Loon appellate court ruling that deemed the sanctions an overreach of government authority.
Roman’s motion for reconsideration is denied by the district court
The district court denies Roman’s motion to reconsider, stating that «Van Loon does not require dismissal because it does not bear on the charged conduct.
EFF files amicus brief in support of Roman
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
supporting Roman Storm’s motion to reconsider the denied motion to dismiss in light of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Van Loon.
Roman files motion to reconsider dismissal
Relying on the Fifth Circuit’s findings in Van Loon that Tornado Cash is an immutable set of smart contracts, Roman’s defense team files a motion to reconsider the denial of his prior motion to dismiss the criminal charges.
Van Loon plaintiffs win their appeal
Van Loon plaintiffs succeed
in their appeal. The Fifth Circuit rules that OFAC exceeded its authority by sanctioning Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts.
The district court denies Roman’s motion to dismiss
The district court
denies Roman’s motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed to trial.
Amicus briefs filed in support of Roman
Amicus briefs are filed by the
DeFi Education Fund, Coin Center, and
in support of Roman’s motion to dismiss the charges against him.
Roman files motion to dismiss charges
Roman Storm files a
the charges against him, arguing that the government’s theories of liability fail to allege violations of the relevant criminal statutes.
Coin Center loses lawsuit
Van Loon plaintiffs file an appeal
The plaintiffs in Van Loon
with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, challenging the district court’s decision
Roman arrested
Roman
is arrested by armed FBI agents
executing a search warrant on his home in Washington at 6am, handcuffing him in front of his 3-year old daughter. He is charged with three counts of conspiracy. The case is assigned to Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York.
District Court rules against plaintiffs in Van Loon
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
rules against the plaintiffs in Van Loon, siding with the Department of the Treasury and upholding the sanctions on Tornado Cash.
Roman Storm voluntarily speaks with government authorities
Roman voluntarily gives an interview with the DOJ, FBI, and IRS-CI.
Coin Center sues to challenge Tornado Cash sanctions
Coin Center sues the Department of Treasury challenging the imposition of sanctions on the Tornado Cash protocol, alleging that OFAC «exceeded its statutory authority» in sanctioning Tornado Cash (Coin Center v. Yellen).
Plaintiffs file lawsuit challenging Tornado Cash sanctions
A group of plaintiffs who have utilized Tornado Cash for legitimate purposes files a lawsuit against the Department of Treasury and OFAC over the designation of Tornado Cash by OFAC (Van Loon v. Dep’t of Treasury).
OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash
OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash, citing alleged use by North Korean Lazarus Group and other illicit actors actors
How can I help?
Make a donation
If you would like to make a contribution towards our cause in defending the right to privacy and the right to publish code, please donate here. Any funds remaining after the payment of all attorneys’ fees and costs will be used to fund initiatives advocating for the right to privacy in Web3.
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If you believe in defending privacy rights and the freedom to publish code, please share this message. By tweeting about our cause, you help amplify the fight for privacy and open-source innovation in Web3. Together, we can make a difference. #FreeRomanStorm #FreeAlexPertsev #DefendPrivacy