Tornado Cash founder requests an additional $1.5 million in trial support from supporters

Roman Storm, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing platform Tornado Cash (TORN), has requested an additional $1.5 million (approximately ₩2 billion) to cover his legal expenses.

According to cryptocurrency-focused media outlet Cointelegraph on the 28th (KST), Storm announced on his X (formerly Twitter) account on the 26th (local time) that "legal costs are rising rapidly" and that "about $1.5 million is needed once again." He also appealed, "Our legal team is working day and night, and costs are accumulating by the hour."

Storm, as a co-developer of Tornado Cash, has been indicted for conspiracy to launder money, violations of sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The trial began on July 14 in Manhattan, New York.

Previously, the cryptocurrency community had donated about $3.9 million to support Storm's trial. At that time, the Ethereum Foundation also supported him with a separate donation of $750,000.

Meanwhile, Tornado Cash became the subject of sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August 2022, after it was reported that illicit actors including North Korea's Lazarus Group had used the platform. However, in a civil case challenging the sanctions, users succeeded in rendering the sanctions invalid, and the platform was officially removed from the OFAC blacklist in March.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice is alleging that Storm conspired to launder money and violated sanctions through Tornado Cash. In contrast, Storm's side argues that the protocol is open-source technology available to anyone, not a for-profit company, and that he was unable to control the transactions.