Biography
Roman Storm is a Russian-American software developer from Auburn, Washington, and a co-founder of Tornado Cash, an open-source Ethereum privacy tool ("mixer"). Arrested on August 23, 2023, he was charged with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions. After a four-week trial, a jury on August 6, 2025 convicted him on the unlicensed-money-transmitting conspiracy but deadlocked on the two more serious counts, and the government has sought a retrial. Free on bail and awaiting sentencing, his case became the flagship "is writing code a crime?" fight for software developers, with privacy and free-software advocates arguing that publishing open-source code is protected speech.
