Tornado Cash co-founder released on bail

The recently arrested co-founder of the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer, Roman Storm, has been released on bail, his lawyer Brian Klein said.

According to him, the prosecutors’ approach in the Storm case has “dangerous consequences” for all software developers.

“My client Roman Storm has already been released on bail, though I remain deeply disappointed that prosecutors have charged him with helping to develop software,” Klein wrote.

Earlier, the lawyer told Bloomberg that Storm has cooperated with authorities in the investigation since 2022 and denies any wrongdoing.

Roman Storm was arrested on August 23 in the state of Washington, the other defendant — Roman Semenov — has been charged in absentia. They face charges including conspiracy to launder money, violations of restrictions and running an unlicensed business.

In August 2022, OFAC added the Tornado Cash site to the sanctions list, according to the agency, criminals laundered cryptocurrency totaling more than $7 billion. Of that amount, more than $455 million is linked to the North Korean Lazarus Group.

On 12 August, Dutch authorities arrested developer Alexey Pertsev on suspicion of involvement in money laundering and concealing illicit financial flows. He denied all charges.

In April 2023, a court changed the pre-trial detention order for Pertsev to house arrest.