Roman Storm, co-founder of privacy protocol Tornado Cash, is urgently appealing for $500,000 in donations to support his legal defense as his criminal trial begins today, July 14, in Manhattan.
In a message posted to X on July 12, Storm said his team is now facing a fundraising shortfall of $1.5 million as the trial is expected to last up to four weeks, beyond the original two-week estimate.
Storm described the moment as critical, calling on crypto supporters and privacy advocates to contribute toward expert witnesses, research, and mounting legal fees. “This is urgent,” he wrote, adding that his case has broad implications for software development and civil liberties. The fundraising site, freeromanstorm.com, was created to coordinate contributions.
Storm faces charges from the U.S. Department of Justice for conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
The indictment alleges Tornado Cash (TORN) laundered more than $1 billion, including funds from North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and that Storm knowingly allowed illicit use of the platform without implementing controls.
Storm has pleaded not guilty. His defense argues that Tornado Cash is a decentralized, non-custodial protocol and that its smart contracts, once deployed, operate autonomously. Prosecuting Storm for writing code, according to his legal team, violates his First Amendment rights.
The case has turned into a focal point for the cryptocurrency community. Advocacy organizations like the Blockchain Association and Coin Center have filed amicus briefs, and figures like Vitalik Buterin have contributed to Storm’s defense. The trial’s verdict might establish a standard for how open-source developers and privacy-preserving crypto tools are handled by the US legal system.
Storm’s future now rests with a jury tasked with weighing code, intent, and control in one of crypto’s most closely watched cases.
