Tornado Cash co-founder Storm may seek a postponement of the trial due to witness disputes.

The lawyer for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm has stated that if the judge allows the Hacker to testify, they may request to postpone the upcoming criminal trial. According to court documents dated July 10, Storm's defense team requested to exclude the testimony of the anonymous witness on the grounds that the prosecution disclosed this witness after the agreed deadline.

Storm defense team requests exclusion of witness testimony

In documents submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Storm's defense team requested to exclude the witness, stating that the prosecution disclosed the witness's information after the deadline. The witness is described as a hacker suspected of laundering money through the Ethereum mixing tool Tornado Cash, with the aim of concealing the traces of the crime.

The defense team stated:

"[This testimony] will unfairly create bias, as it may confuse and mislead the jury into believing that Mr. Storm participated in the so-called Hacker behavior, or deliberately assisted in its realization, which is obviously untrue."

The defense attorney further emphasized that this testimony could provoke an "angry response" from the jury, unfairly affecting their perception of the defendant. The defense team stated that if the court refuses to exclude the testimony, they reserve the right to request a delay in the trial.

The trial of Storm is about to begin.

The trial of Storm is set to begin on July 14, nearly two years after he was charged with conspiracy to launder money, operating an unlicensed money transmission business, and violating U.S. sanctions laws. The judge is expected to rule on the motion to exclude witnesses before the end of this weekend.

Tornado Cash's "victim" witness

Federal prosecutors in the United States have summoned multiple witnesses, claiming they are the "victims" of crimes supported by the Tornado Cash platform. In a social media post in June, Storm stated:

"SDNY (Southern District of New York) is trying to suppress me and prevent all expert witnesses from appearing in court. If I lose the case, DeFi will die with me."

Storm's defense has received widespread support from the crypto community, including Paradigm founder Matt Huang, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and the Ethereum Foundation. Supporters have provided substantial funding for his legal defense and stated that writing code should not be criminalized.

Situation of other founders of Tornado Cash

Another founder of Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to over five years in prison by a Dutch court in 2024 on charges of money laundering. Roman Semenov, another figure involved in the Storm lawsuit, remains missing, with reports suggesting he may be hiding in Russia.

The trial of Storm will begin jury selection on Monday, presided over by Judge Katherine Failla.