Tornado Cash co-founder may seek trial delay amid witness dispute

Storm's defense argues that permitting hacker's testimony could unfairly prejudice jury perception in upcoming trial.

Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm’s lawyers have signaled that they may request a brief delay in his upcoming criminal trial if a judge allows testimony from a hacker who allegedly used the platform, according to July 10 court filings.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Storm’s defense team asked to exclude the unnamed witness, arguing prosecutors disclosed the individual after the agreed deadline.

The witness is described as the perpetrator of an alleged hack who laundered funds through the Ethereum-based mixer to obscure trails.

According to the defense:

“[The testimony] would be unfairly prejudicial as it would likely confuse and mislead the jurors into believing that Mr. Storm was involved in the underlying purported hack or intended to facilitate it, which is not true.”

Storm’s attorneys argued the testimony could provoke “an angry response” from jurors, unfairly impacting their perception of the defendant. They reserved the right to seek a continuance if the court denies the motion to exclude.

Storm’s trial is set to begin on July 14, nearly two years after he was indicted on charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. The judge is expected to rule on the witness motions by the end of this week.

Federal prosecutors have called several witnesses “victims” of Tornado Cash-enabled crimes. In a June post on social media, Storm said:

“SDNY is trying to crush me, blocking every expert witness. If I lose, DeFi dies with me.”

The developer has received strong support from the crypto community, including Paradigm founder Matt Huang, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and the Ethereum Foundation. Supporters have contributed considerably to his legal defense and argued that writing code should not be criminalized.

Alexey Pertsev, another Tornado Cash co-founder, was sentenced to over five years in prison in the Netherlands in 2024 for money laundering. Roman Semenov, also named in Storm’s indictment, remains at large, with reports suggesting he may be in hiding in Russia.

Storm’s trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Monday before Judge Katherine Failla.

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