The U.S. Department of Justice continues to uphold criminal charges against Tornado Cash developers, crypto regulation sparks renewed controversy
Despite a softening stance from the U.S. Department of Justice on crypto platforms, federal prosecutors still maintain federal criminal charges against Roman Storm, developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash.
According to internal information from the U.S. Department of Justice on May 15, Storm faces charges of money laundering and evading sanctions, and is expected to go on trial in less than two months in Manhattan federal court.
Tornado Cash is an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixer designed to obscure the origins and destinations of transactions. Previously, federal prosecutors accused Storm of conspiring to launder money, evade U.S. sanctions, and operating an unlicensed remittance business through Tornado Cash.
However, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) stated that “non-custodial entities” like Tornado Cash should not be considered money transfer businesses, which exposes the tension between law enforcement and decentralized software developers.
Amanda Tuminelli, executive director of the DeFi Education Fund, expressed that technologists developing neutral privacy tools should not be subject to “unreasonable criminal standards.” Her viewpoint has also garnered ongoing support for Storm from industry leaders, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
The Department of Justice's actions seem contradictory to an internal memo leaked last month. The memo shifted regulatory focus to “individuals using crypto tools for criminal activity” rather than platforms, seen as a signal of the Trump administration's easing stance on the crypto industry. However, the advancement of the Storm case indicates that even with a policy shift, developers may still become regulatory “targets.”
The judicial background of this case dates back to 2022 when Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for being involved in $7 billion in illicit transactions, later removed from the sanctions list after its immutable smart contracts were ruled “not property.” Its co-developer Alexey Pertsev was sentenced to 5 years in prison in the Netherlands last year and was released during the appeal process in February this year.
In summary, this case not only concerns the fate of a single developer but could also serve as a key precedent for the legal boundaries of the crypto industry. The tension between the “neutrality” of decentralized code and the definition of regulatory scope, as well as the conflict between technological innovation and compliance, has become the focal point of industry attention.
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