Paradigm commits $1.25 million to aid Tornado Cash co-founder in continued legal battle

Quick Take
- Crypto venture capital Paradigm will donate $1.25 million to fund Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s legal defense against U.S. prosecution.
- Storm said the charges made against him are a “terrifying criminalization of privacy.”


Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang announced that the crypto venture capital firm will donate $1.25 million to support Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm in his legal defense against U.S. prosecution.
“The prosecution’s case threatens to hold software developers criminally liable for the bad acts of third parties, which would have a chilling effect in crypto and beyond,” Huang wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday. “We must stand with [Storm].”
Storm co-founded Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash with Roman Semenov and Alexey Pertsev. Storm and Semenov were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with alleged money laundering-related charges in 2023.
Prosecutors claimed that Storm "knowingly facilitated” the laundering of over $1 billion in illicit funds on the crypto mixer, including money linked to North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus. The Tornado Cash founders each face up to 45 years in prison.
In Storm’s defense
In an X post on Jan. 23, Storm wrote that the prosecution embodies a “terrifying criminalization of privacy,” as he claims he is being charged for writing open-source code for private transactions in a non-custodial manner.
Earlier this month, a US court ordered the sanctions on Tornado Cash to be reversed — ruling that the crypto mixer should not be seen as “property” that can be sanctioned.
While Storm's first motion to dismiss the charges was reportedly rejected by court, the Tornado Cash co-founder has filed a new motion to dismiss in December.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government stated in its opposition to Storm's motion to reconsider, filed in January, that while the court has recognized Storm's argument that Tornado Cash pool smart contracts were "immutable" after May 2020, it had recognized that other aspects of his charges "were not similarly free from tinkering."
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, along with other members of the crypto community, called for U.S. President Donald Trump to help lift the charges against Storm after Trump signed an executive order to pardon Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht.
Storm’s court trial is set for April 14, 2025.
Correction: The article has been updated to clarify that Tornado Cash has three co-founders. It has also updated details on the latest status of Storm's motion to dismiss charges, which in the previous version was not fully up-to-date.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.