NEW YORK — Roman Storm, the Tornado Cash developer on trial in Manhattan for charges that the privacy tool he created aided hackers in laundering over $1 billion in criminal proceeds, has decided not to testify, his lawyers informed the court on Tuesday. Storm acknowledged to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla that he had the right to testify in his defense but opted against it. Following his decision, his defense team, led by Keri Axel and Brian Klein of Waymaker LLP, concluded their case on Tuesday afternoon.
Over three days of witness testimony, the defense contended that Storm was simply the creator of a legitimate privacy tool that was occasionally misused by bad actors—something they argued was beyond the control of Storm and his co-founders since the Tornado Cash protocol is immutable. Though Storm and the other co-founders earned money from TORN token sales, they did not directly profit from Tornado Cash, according to witness testimonies. Prosecutors tried to depict Storm and his co-founders as indifferent to the victims of hacks whose funds were laundered through Tornado Cash. However, testimony, group chats, and messages revealed that Storm and his co-founders were distressed by the misuse of their platform.
In messages exchanged with co-founder Roman Semenov, who also faces the same charges and remains at large, Storm expressed concern following significant hacks, including the 2022 Ronin Bridge hack, where North Korean hackers stole $600 million and funneled part of the proceeds through Tornado Cash. Storm urged Semenov to block the hackers’ wallets from the Tornado Cash user interface, stating, “We urgently need to tell everyone we do not want these individuals to the front.” Following the Ronin Bridge hack, Storm referred to the hackers’ use of Tornado Cash as “very serious.” After another incident involving the Harmony Horizon Bridge, Storm communicated with Haseeb Qureshi, a managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, expressing relief that the hackers were detected.
Storm’s defense also included expert testimony outlining legitimate reasons for using a tool like Tornado Cash, which separates users’ identities from their financial transactions. Dr. Matthew Green, a noted cryptography expert from Johns Hopkins University, testified that the lack of privacy in most cryptocurrencies is a “bug,” making users vulnerable to various threats. He explained that without Tornado Cash, Ethereum users expose sensitive personal information in every transaction, leading to security risks such as phishing, fraud, and in-person assaults known as “wrench attacks,” which have been increasingly prevalent.
The jury’s stance regarding Tornado Cash remains undecided. Tomorrow, both sides will present closing arguments, after which the jury will receive instructions from the judge on the charges against Storm and proceed to deliberate.
Leave a Reply