Roman Storm's Lawyers Signal Continuance if Court Allows Hacker's Testimony

The highly anticipated trial of Roman Storm, the co-founder and developer of Tornado Cash, is set to begin on Monday, with his defense attorneys still waiting for rulings on motions related to witnesses in the case. In a recent filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Storm's legal team has suggested that they may request a brief continuance if a judge denies their motion to exclude testimony from an unnamed witness.

The witness in question is believed to be the "claimed perpetrator of an alleged hack who allegedly used Tornado Cash." Storm's attorneys argue that prosecutors disclosed this witness after a scheduled deadline, and claim that their testimony could be "highly prejudicial" to Storm. According to the Thursday filing, the testimony would be unfairly prejudicial because it would likely confuse and mislead the jurors into believing that Storm was involved in the underlying hack or intended to facilitate it.

"The testimony would also be unfairly prejudicial because it is likely to evoke an angry response from jurors, which would likely spill over to Mr. Storm," said the filing. "It is our position that this testimony will have a significant and unjustified impact on the jury's perception of Mr. Storm's guilt or innocence." If Storm's legal team were to request a continuance at the eleventh hour, it's unclear if Judge Katherine Failla would grant it.

The Tornado Cash co-founder's criminal trial is scheduled to begin jury selection on Monday, roughly two years after he was indicted on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. The case has garnered significant attention in the crypto industry, with many defenders arguing that developing the code for Tornado Cash was not a crime.

Support from Crypto and Blockchain Figures

Since Storm's 2023 indictment, many figures in the crypto and blockchain communities have come to his defense, contributing thousands of dollars to his legal fund in preparation for trial. Paradigm founder Matt Huang, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and the Ethereum Foundation are among those who have pledged their support.

Another Tornado Cash co-founder and developer, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested, tried, and found guilty of money laundering related to the mixing service in the Netherlands. He was sentenced to more than five years in prison in 2024. The only other significant figure tied to Tornado Cash who has avoided court is Roman Semenov, a co-founder and developer named in the same indictment as Storm. Reports suggest that Semenov may have gone into hiding in Russia.

A High-Stakes Trial

The trial of Roman Storm promises to be a high-stakes battle between his defense team and the prosecution. With the fate of DeFi (Decentralized Finance) hanging in the balance, Storm has claimed that he is being "crushed" by prosecutors who are trying to block expert witnesses.

"SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness," said Storm in a June 13 X post. "If I lose, DeFi dies with me." The jury will be tasked with determining whether Storm's actions were criminal or not, and the case has far-reaching implications for the crypto industry.

A ruling on the motions is expected by Friday, ahead of the trial start date. As the court weighs the evidence, one thing is clear: the fate of Roman Storm and the future of DeFi will be decided in the coming days.