Will Roman Storm’s Charges Be Dropped? | Airdrop Alert Pro

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is pushing to have criminal charges against him dropped after scoring a major victory in court. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that U.S. Treasury Department sanctions Tornado Cash’s smart contract is illegal. The ruling could be a game-changer in the Storm case, which involves serious charges including money laundering. Additionally, the case was favorable for Tornado Cash, with the sanctions helping the native token Torn rise 700% last month.

Court rules out sanctions clause

in its rulingLater, the Court of Appeal made a bold statement declaring that the Treasury Department’s sanctions against the Tornado Cash smart contract were illegal. According to the ruling, Tornado Cash’s smart contracts are immutable, meaning no one can change or block them, not even the creator.

The court also clarified that these contracts are not “property” under U.S. law and therefore cannot be blocked or sanctioned by the government. With this key element in mind, Storm asked the court to also drop serious money laundering charges, specifically charges that he conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which forced the United States to impose sanctions.

Storm’s argument: No control, no crime

In an effort to fight back, Storm used the ruling to argue that the charges against him were flawed. He insists that Tornado Cash is not a financial institution, which was set in stone as early as May 2020 – long before the alleged money laundering allegations. Interestingly, he said it was impossible for him to conspire to launder money using protocols that no one, including himself, had control over. So simply put, there is no concrete evidence that he used the platform to launder money.

The case caused a great deal of outrage. Initially, the lawsuit was filed by a Tornado Cash user and received Coin Librarytargeting the U.S. Department of the Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Although users initially lost the case, the ruling was overturned in November 2023, giving Tornado Cash’s supporters a huge victory.

The case also reflects how U.S. legal institutions treat decentralized platforms. Developers’ attempts to challenge the agency will certainly bring about some irrevocable changes in future cases.

past crimes

In a similar case, in August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov with helping to launder more than $1 billion, including cryptocurrency-related funds. North Korean hacker group Lazarus.

Semenov remains at large. The third co-founder, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested in the Netherlands in 2022. Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2022 for approving unverified transactions and allowing cybercriminals to steal more than $7 billion since 2019.