One of the founders of sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash (TORN) is asking for financial help ahead of his criminal trial in the United States.
Roman Storm was arrested last year and charged by the US Department of Justice with laundering $1 billion in criminal proceeds.
In a new video Posted on the social media platform
He warns that the outcome of his lawsuit will have significant implications for the future of digital assets.
“Hello, my name is Roman Storm. I am a passionate software developer. And four years ago I helped develop Tornado Cash, an open source, non-custodial privacy protocol. A few months ago, despite my continued cooperation with U.S. authorities, heavily armed FBI agents raided my home at 6 a.m. and arrested me in the presence of my three-year-old daughter. My legal team and I are going to come up with a proposalg defense at trial, not only for the sake of my family, but also for the sake of future software developers and financial privacy.
Folks, I need your help. Whether you are, like me, a passionate developer involved in web3, or simply interested in software and privacy, this legal battle will impact you. So please assist in my legal defense, as this case will set an important precedent for years to come. JusticeDAO (decentralized autonomous organization) has put together a number of options for donating. Do you support this good cause? Every contribution counts. Thank you.”
Tornado Cash is an Ethereum (ETH)-based coin mixing system that allows users to hide their digital assets. TORN is the 1421st cryptocurrency by market cap. The project was approved by the US in 2022 for national security purposes.
Last year, Storm, along with Roman Semenov, another founder of Tornado Cash, was charged by the DOJ with conspiring to aid the North Korean hacking group Lazarus in money laundering.
In August 2022, a third co-founder of Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands on money laundering charges.
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Featured image: Shutterstock/ALMAGAMI