A major legal battle for DeFi. In August 2022, theOffice of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) the United States placed the protocol Tornado Cash blacklisted. Since then, it has been descent into hell for the protocol. In turn, developers and founders are apprehended by the courts.
Tornado Cash in trouble since the OFAC trial
Since August 8, 2022, OFAC has the protocol Tornado Cash in his viewfinder. In fact, the latter accused the protocol of having allowed the whitening of several billion dollars.
At the same time, sanctions have been put in place against American entities using the protocol. The phenomenon was such that it was until impact block production on Ethereum. Indeed, shortly after the announcement of the sanctions, most Ethereum blocks reportedcensorship of Tornado Cash transactions.
Finally, at the end of August 2023, Roman Semenov and Roman Stormthe two co-founders of Tornado Cash, were apprehended by American justice. A major trial, which will have numerous impacts on DeFi and open source software in general.
Indeed, if the judgment were to find the co-founders guilty, it would create a precedent for American justice. Any developer of open source software could indeed be singled out for illegal use of their tool.
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Roman Storm denies all accusations
On Wednesday, September 6, Roman Storm’s trial began in New York District Court. As reported by our colleagues from Inner City Press, he is accused of sanctions violations against the North Korea with Tornado Cash.
During the hearing, the court characterized Tornado Cash as “infamous cryptocurrency mixer who laundered over $1 billion in criminal proceeds and violated US sanctions”.
For his part, co-founder Roman Storm pleaded not guilty. In fact, it is solely the origin of the software, but does not consider itself responsible for the uses made of it. After this first day of hearing, the session was adjourned. This matter will take its course in the weeks and months to come.
Let’s hope for Roman Storm that he will be able to find support in the crypto community. Shortly after the first OFAC attacks, the giant Coinbase had notably given its support to the protocol.
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