Tornado Cash’s Roman Storm Linked to Shady Binance Transfers

Federal prosecutors presented evidence suggesting Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm moved millions through Binance and coordinated with co-founders to send funds and buy offshore real estate.

IRS-CI Special Agent Stephan George told the jury he traced over $533,000 in USDT from a Binance account allegedly controlled by Storm. He said the funds were moved on August 9, 2022, and distributed across three wallet addresses.

Storm Allegedly Sent $2.6 Million Each to Co-Founders

Prosecutors showed chat logs between Tornado Cash’s founding trio: Roman Storm, Roman Semenov, and Alexey Pertsev. In one message, Storm wrote:

“I overloaded 8 million yesterday.”

Another message stated:

“I sent you guys 2.6 million each.”

Agent George said these communications indicated Storm had access to the funds and decision-making power over the wallet in question.

In a separate message, Storm reportedly told a colleague to:

“Give her a task to f**ing open various offshores… and to buy real estate.”*

Prosecutors also read a message from Semenov stating:

“I will send some TORN later, to avoid getting busted.”

The prosecution argued these messages revealed intent to obscure transactions and profit from Tornado Cash’s operations.

96% of Tornado Cash Users Relied on Web Interface

Earlier in the day, prosecution expert Philip Werlau of AnChain.AI testified that 96.2% of users accessed Tornado Cash through its user interface (UI), not the command line. 

He said Lazarus Group shifted to CLI usage only after US sanctions were imposed. Werlau said this behavior suggested a deliberate attempt to avoid detection.

During cross-examination, Roman Storm’s defense challenged Werlau’s conclusions. He emphasized that Tornado Cash’s smart contract pools became immutable in May 2020, meaning neither Storm nor the DAO could change them.

Klein also clarified that Tornado’s UI did not handle transactions directly. Deposits and withdrawals required interacting with Ethereum’s smart contracts, not any centralized interface.

Meanwhile, prosecutors presented an email from an earlier witness, Ms. Lin, addressed to Tornado Cash’s public inbox. Judge Failla warned the jury not to treat its content as fact. 

The email’s inclusion may relate to the defense’s previously stated mistrial concerns, though no motion was filed.

What’s Next in the Tornado Cash Trial

The prosecution is expected to rest its case tomorrow morning. A separate hearing on the Chainalysis expert testimony is still pending.

Storm’s defense is preparing to present its side, focusing on the immutability of Tornado Cash and Storm’s lack of control after deployment.