- Storm is in desperate need of 1.5M funds to cover Tornado Cash legal expenses.
- The defenders of privacy launch a fundraiser of $3.2M in the crypto space.
- Anonymising crypto tools rules may be affected by the trial.
The possible landmark lawsuit involving Roman Storm, co-founder of the privacy-centric cryptocurrency Tornado Cash, is now in its third week, and as his legal bills continue to mount, Storm has asked for an emergency fundraising effort of $1.5 million. On July 14, the trial began in Manhattan, New York, and it has the potential to establish a crucial precedent regarding decentralized financial innovation and open-source privacy software.
Source – X
On July 26, Storm wrote on X, The financial stress is growing, and we are rapidly running out of time. Legal costs are accumulating, and we badly need your support. He outlined that his legal counsel is working around the clock, and each hour is a plus to the defense. I need, again ~$1.5mm, which sounds crazy, but it is a lot of pressure on my resources and my well-being, he wrote.
Legal Costs Soar as Trial Presses On
Source – freeromanstorm
Roman Storm has already raised more than 3.2 million dollars in his legal defense fund, which is about 65 percent of a 5-million-dollar goal, with community donations and a donation of 750 thousand dollars by the Ethereum Foundation. Nevertheless, hidden contingencies and lengthy processes have increased expenses beyond what was forecasted earlier. The defense has now approximated that the total cost may be up to 5 million, as compared to previous estimates of 3.5 million.
During his trial, Storm is accused of running a money transmission business without authorization, breaking U.S. sanctions, and conspiring to launder money.The state-sponsored Lazarus Group, based in North Korea, is accused of stealing over $1 billion and laundering it using Tornado Cash, according to prosecutors. The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against Tornado Cash in August 2022; however, those penalties were later removed.
Tornado Cash, according to Storm and his attorneys, is not a business but a decentralized and autonomous system, and its creators are immune to user liability. They cite 2019 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recommendations that exempted individuals developing anonymizing software from money transmitter registration as evidence that the authoring and distribution of software code is covered by free expression under the First Amendment.
Precedent at Stake for Privacy and Open Source Code
The case has attracted a lot of attention since it has more implications outside Storm. Criminalization of the privacy tools used by open sources can be a dire consequence of the conviction, as law experts predict that this will have a devastating impact on the privacy rights of the cryptocurrency sector and will cripple innovation in decentralized finance.
With the trial gaining pace, Storm can be heard to ask the court to allocate her an extra million and a half, as the case is a historic case that comes with a lot of financial pressure. The trial will most likely last till mid-August, or around August 11.
