Roman Storm
Summary
Roman Storm is a Russian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen and co-founder of Tornado Cash, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixing protocol sanctioned by OFAC in August 2022. He was arrested in August 2023 and indicted in the Southern District of New York on three counts: conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions (IEEPA). A jury convicted him in August 2025 on the unlicensed money transmitting count while deadlocking on the two more serious charges, and prosecutors have filed to retry him on the deadlocked counts in October 2026.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 11 more
Timeline(22 events)
2019-08-01
Roman Storm, Roman Semenov, and Alexey Pertsev deploy the Tornado Cash smart contracts on Ethereum mainnet.
2022-03-01
Lazarus Group allegedly uses Tornado Cash to launder more than $455 million stolen from Axie Infinity's Ronin Network bridge.
2022-06-24
Lazarus Group allegedly uses Tornado Cash to launder more than $96 million stolen in the Harmony Horizon bridge hack.
2022-08-08
OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash and associated Ethereum addresses, alleging the protocol facilitated over $7 billion in money laundering.
2022-08-10
Alexey Pertsev is arrested in the Netherlands in connection with Tornado Cash.
2023-08-23
Roman Storm is arrested in Washington State. DOJ unseals indictment in SDNY charging Storm and Semenov with money laundering conspiracy, unlicensed money transmission conspiracy, and IEEPA sanctions conspiracy.
2023-08-23
Roman Semenov is individually sanctioned by OFAC; remains at large as a Russian national not in U.S. custody.
2024-03-29
Storm's counsel files a motion to dismiss all charges, supported by DeFi Education Fund amicus brief.
2024-05-14
Dutch court convicts Alexey Pertsev of money laundering and sentences him to 64 months in prison.
2024-09-26
U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla denies Storm's motion to dismiss.
2024-11-01
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rules OFAC exceeded its authority in sanctioning Tornado Cash immutable smart contracts.
2025-01-23
President Trump signs executive order supporting open public blockchain networks and protecting software developers' rights.
2025-03-21
OFAC officially removes Tornado Cash from its sanctions list; Roman Semenov remains individually designated.
2025-04-01
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issues memo directing prosecutors to stop charging mixing services for end-user conduct.
2025-05-15
DOJ drops one sub-count (18 U.S.C. § 1960(b)(1)(B)) but continues pursuing remaining money laundering and IEEPA charges.
2025-06-01
Ethereum Foundation donates $500,000 to Storm's legal defense fund ahead of trial.
2025-07-14
Trial begins before Judge Failla in the Southern District of New York.
2025-08-06
Jury convicts Storm on conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business; declares itself deadlocked on money laundering and IEEPA sanctions counts. Judge declares mistrial on deadlocked counts.
2025-09-30
Storm's defense files Rule 29 motion for acquittal on the money transmitting conviction.
2025-10-05
Storm's attorneys publicly call for acquittal; defense raises constitutional challenges.
2026-03-09
DOJ files letter with court requesting retrial on the two deadlocked counts, proposing start date of October 5 or 12, 2026.
2026-04-09
Oral argument scheduled on Storm's Rule 29 motion for acquittal before Judge Failla.
Decision Log
- hash: E4XmXQnfuhAwnPmcek6BPkAY2meZLP5mWBFythsYN7df
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain and source URLs are archived via the Internet Archive.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/30/2026, 7:10:29 PM
last updated: 5/30/2026, 7:10:33 PM
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