Tornado Cash Founder Raises Red Flag Over DOJ’s DeFi Crackdown

Roman Storm, founder of the Tornado Cash privacy tool, has warned that open-source developers may face retroactive criminal risk from US prosecutors for building non-custodial finance software.

His message has echoed through the crypto community as his own legal fight moves forward. Reports have disclosed a mixed jury outcome in Manhattan and a high-stakes debate over whether publishing code can amount to running a money-transmitting business.

Storm asked DeFi developers: “How can you be so sure you will not be charged by the Justice department as a money service business for building a non-custodial protocol?”

Developers Warned Of Retroactive Risk

According to court filings and public statements, Storm argued that US law gives little protection to people who publish software that others use to move funds. Based on reports, prosecutors called Tornado Cash a system that had been used to launder more than $1 billion.

Just a question for current DeFi devs:

How can you be so sure you won’t be charged by the DOJ as an MSB – for building a non-custodial protocol – and then accused you should’ve built it custodial instead?

If SDNY can charge a dev for building a non-custodial protocol… who’s…

— Roman Storm

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