Tornado Cash | Crypto

Roman Storm, a Tornado Cash co-founder and developer, has criticized proceedings against him as an attempt “to make writing code a crime.”

Wallets linked to the $200 million exploit of Mixin in 2023 woke after nearly two years and moved funds to coin mixer Tornado Cash.

Blockchain data showed that stolen Bitcoin was bridged to Ethereum, fragmented into multiple wallets and later routed into the crypto mixer. Roughly $63 million in Tornado Cash deposits has been linked to the $282 million cryptocurrency wallet compromise of Jan. 10. Blockchain security firm CertiK said in a Monday X post that its monitoring systems identified Tornado Cash interactions tied to the exploit.  The update expands on the post-theft money laundering mechanics of the Jan. 10 incident, which is being tracked by multiple crypto investigators due to the amount lost and the speed at which funds were moved. Read more

A sophisticated attacker laundered $19.4 million of stolen funds through Tornado Cash following a $27.3 million multi-signature wallet exploit, while concurrent attacks including pig-butchering scams and contract exploits pushed 24-hour losses above $36 million across multiple platforms. The post Hacker Drains $27M From Multi-Sig Wallet, Launders $19M via Tornado Cash appeared first on Cryptonews.

The intellectual property platform on Story Protocol lost about $3.9 million after a governance exploit, with stolen funds later routed through Tornado Cash.

On-chain investigators have connected North Korean hackers to a $21M loss at SBI Crypto, tracing flows through instant exchanges and Tornado Cash; the tactics have mirrored past DPRK operations, and SBI has not issued a public statement. The post North Korean Hackers Steal $21M From SBI Crypto, Laundered via Tornado Cash appeared first on Cryptonews.

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm asks a US judge to dismiss his conviction, arguing that prosecutors failed to prove his intent to help bad actors. Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, has asked a US federal judge to acquit him of his sole conviction for unlicensed money transmission and the jury’s hung counts for money laundering and sanctions violations, arguing prosecutors failed to prove he intended to help bad actors misuse the crypto mixer. According to legal documents filed on Sept. 30 to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and reviewed by Cointelegraph, Storm’s defense argued prosecutors failed to prove he intended to help bad actors use Tornado Cash. This, according to the defense, would nullify the grounds for his conviction based on negligent inaction. “Storm and bad actors was a claim that he knew they were using Tornado Cash and failed to take sufficient measures to stop them. This is a negligence theory,” the motion states. Read more

The Solana Policy Institute (SPI) has pledged $500,000 to the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, according to an Aug. 28 statement. Storm and Pertsev helped create Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based privacy protocol that allows crypto transactions to be mixed and anonymized. After deployment, the developers relinquished control of the […] The post Solana Policy Institute grants $500K to defend Tornado Cash developers appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s conviction misapplies money transmitter laws, crypto industry group says. The conviction of Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm could set a “dangerous” precedent for developers and privacy, legal observers in the crypto space say. Storm was found guilty of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The crime carries a maximum sentence of five years. The jury could not reach a consensus on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. Federal prosecutors could still retry him on these two charges.  While Storm is yet to face sentencing, other crypto-related cases, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and OneCoin co-founder Karl Greenwood, were tried and found guilty in the same district and ended up serving prison time.  Read more

From teaching himself how to code to working odd jobs in the United States after emigrating, Roman Storm’s story is anything but typical. Roman Storm, the Tornado Cash co-founder and developer, found an interest in computer software at a young age after his parents bought him a personal computer. Now, at 36 years old, he holds a guilty verdict for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, issued by a jury on Wednesday. He remains in limbo as prosecutors could still retry him on two additional felony counts: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. Storm has always been drawn to “the more technical side of things,” he said on a podcast in early July, just before his trial began in a New York district court. He spent time playing video games and teaching himself how computer programs and software worked. Read more

With a sentencing hearing scheduled in a matter of weeks, Roman Storm is potentially looking at five years in jail for running an unlicensed money transmitting service. A Manhattan jury found Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm guilty of charges related to conspiracy to run an unlicensed money business. In a Wednesday decision in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Storm was found guilty of one felony charge related to his role at Tornado Cash, according to court reports from Inner City Press. The jury convicted Roman on conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmittal business, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. No unanimity was reached on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering nor on conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions. Read more

The Roman Storm trial has hit a snag after four days of jury deliberations, with jurors informing the court that they remain deadlocked on certain charges, according to an Aug. 6 court reporting from Inner City Press. Judge Katherine Polk Failla revealed that the jury had submitted a note stating some members were firmly set […] The post Jurors deadlocked in Roman Storm trial over Tornado Cash allegations appeared first on CryptoSlate.

An intriguing twist in the trial of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm emerged after one juror reportedly requested time off to attend her mother’s birthday celebration. On Aug. 4, Inner City Press shared updates from the courtroom, revealing that the juror, identified as “Ms. Nelson,” had asked for a break from deliberations on Aug. 5. […] The post Birthday plans clash with Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm trial deliberations appeared first on CryptoSlate.

If convicted of the three charges, the Tornado Cash developer could face more than 40 years in prison. Jurors will now decide the fate of Roman Storm, co-founder of cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, after prosecutors and the defense delivered closing arguments on Wednesday. The closing arguments phase of a trial is when both sides summarize a case before a judge or jury, making their cases and trying one last time to persuade before the fact-finder goes off to deliberate. Storm is standing trial in the Southern District of New York in a case that could set a precedent for how much responsibility developers have for decentralized software that is used illegally. Read more

Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will not bring criminal charges against the crypto venture firm, as Tornado Cash co‑founder Roman Storm’s federal trial in Manhattan neared its conclusion. Qureshi, whose investment firm backed several blockchain startups, wrote on social media that federal prosecutor Nathan Rehn told the […] The post DOJ clarifies Dragonfly is not a target as Tornado Cash co-founder trial nears conclusion appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Venture capital firm Dragonfly said Friday that the U.S. government is weighing potential charges over its 2020 investment in PepperSec, the developer of Tornado Cash, marking a rare instance where federal prosecutors may target a venture investor for backing a crypto project. In a detailed statement, Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi called the prospect of […] The post Venture investor Dragonfly faces potential charges over Tornado Cash involvement appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Dragonfly Capital’s early investment in Tornado Cash could expose the firm to potential legal action from the DOJ. Dragonfly Capital could be the target of federal charges stemming from its early investment in Tornado Cash developer PepperSec, Inc., but the venture firm says it is prepared to “vigorously defend” itself if prosecutors pursue the case. In a Friday social media post, Dragonfly Capital managing partner Haseeb Qureshi defended the firm’s early backing of Tornado Cash — an open-source protocol that allows users to obscure blockchain transactions — dating back to August 2020. “We made this investment because we believe in the importance of open-source privacy-preserving technology,” said Qureshi, adding that the company had consulted outside legal counsel before investing and was assured Tornado Cash was compliant. Read more

The second week of the Roman Storm trial kicked off with Judge Katherine Failla allowing a witness to testify that Tornado Cash could have been modified to prevent criminal use. A federal judge overseeing Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm’s criminal trial will allow jurors to hear testimony claiming he could have modified the platform “to deter criminals from using it.” In a Sunday order, Judge Katherine Failla denied a defense motion requesting to preclude testimony from a government witness over modifications Storm allegedly could have made to Tornado Cash. The witness, Philip Werlau, an investigator at the fraud investigation and Anti-Money Laundering compliance company AnChain.AI, will be allowed to offer testimony that Storm allegedly had the means to stop Tornado Cash from laundering the proceeds of crimes using smart contract features, but chose not to. Read more

Roman Storm’s defense team raised the prospect of a mistrial on July 21 after an FBI agent failed to confirm that the stolen assets from the prosecution’s first witness in his trial had passed through Tornado Cash.  Journalist Matthew Russell Lee reported in real-time today’s session of the trial, highlighting that before the jury could […] The post Roman Storm’s defense hints at mistrial after agents fail to trace funds stolen from witness to Tornado Cash appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Storm’s lawyers say their client had nothing to do with the criminals using Tornado Cash. Prosecutors say he was capable of stopping them, and chose not to.