Tornado Cash Founder Seeks $3.5M as Trial Unfolds

Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, launched a legal defense fundraiser as his trial began on July 14 in Manhattan federal court. Storm faces charges including conspiracy to commit money laundering and U.S. sanctions violations after the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC sanctioned the Tornado Cash crypto mixer in August 2022 for facilitating $455 million in transfers by North Korea’s Lazarus Group. His defense team filed a motion accusing prosecutors of using cherry-picked, unverified Telegram messages. The trial, initially set for two weeks, is now expected to span three to four weeks. Storm has raised $2.12 million of a $3.5 million goal for legal fees, expert witnesses and research, seeking $500,000 more in days. Major backers include Golem Foundation’s 50 ETH donation (~$150,000), Meta Cartel DAO and Paradigm’s $1.25 million commitment. The campaign spotlights risks for open-source code liability, crypto privacy tools and potential regulatory overreach.