"Roman Storm's accusations met with a strong counterattack! Can Tornado Cash co-founder prove his innocence?"
In a potentially far-reaching decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that sanctions on Tornado Cash smart contracts were unlawful. The ruling provides a strong legal basis for co-founder Roman Storm, who is seeking to dismiss charges of money laundering and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The court held that Tornado Cash's smart contracts are immutable and cannot be controlled or modified even by the creator, which makes them not meet the definition of "property" and therefore should not be sanctioned. This ruling directly shakes the legal basis for the Treasury Department to impose sanctions on decentralized protocols and opens up a new path to defend the legality of decentralized technology.
Storm said that Tornado Cash has been immutable since 2020, so any accusation of its involvement in "controlling" the protocol is untenable. He further pointed out that as a developer, he can neither control the protocol nor conduct illegal operations through it. This defense logic is not only a direct counterattack to the accusations, but also a conceptual support for decentralized technology.
This case is not only a turning point for Storm's personal fate, but also deeply reveals the contradiction between the legal system and decentralized technology. Although the U.S. Department of Justice has accused Tornado Cash of assisting in the laundering of more than $1 billion, including funds related to the Lazarus hacker group, this ruling may prompt the judiciary to re-evaluate the way it regulates decentralized technology.
Tornado Cash's token TORN has soared 700% since the ruling, becoming the market's direct response to this victory.
As the boundaries of the decentralized world continue to expand, how will the developers in Storm write history? Follow Mr. Qiu, and let's witness every exciting game in the confrontation between technology, law and the market!