“If I lose, defi will die with me.”

Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, issued one of his toughest responsibilities for the Trump administration’s Justice Department on Friday.

“DOJ never built it, saying I should have controlled it and saying I should have added KYC,” Storm wrote. “SDNY is trying to crush me and block all the expert witnesses.”

“If I lose, Defi will die with me,” continued the Crypto developer. “The dream of financial freedom, the code I believed in – it all disappears into the darkness. This is not just my purpose. It’s ours.”

Storm was charged in 2023 by the DOJ with a conspiracy to commit money laundering, operate an unauthorized money transmitter business, and avoid US sanctions. Such coin mixing platforms are popular among privacy advocates, but have also been adopted by criminal organizations and the US enemy. north korea.

Earlier this year, DOJ after President Donald Trump took power and directed many federal agencies to settle from the digital asset industry. shutter It directed its encrypted executive force and prosecutors not to pursue criminal charges against the coin mixing service for “end-user conduct.”

Many of Crypto have taken policy changes as signals that the DOJ might soon be able to forgive the storm. Shortly after returning to the office, Trump forgives him. Ross Ulbricchtfounder of Silk Road, a black market website powered by Bitcoin.

However, Storm’s pardon never came to fruition. Last month, Trump’s DOJ I said It will advance the lawsuit against the co-founder of Tornado Cash and remove only the elements of a single claim that did not comply with the Money Submit Business Registration Registration requirements.

Storm and other Defi supporters argue that the prosecution unfairly holds software developers responsible for how they use the software. Last year, another tornado cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, was found guilty in a Dutch court. Domination This site is “focused on criminals.”

President Trump has made several pro-defi moves over the past few months, but has set up a bill in law abolition IRS rules protested by the sector and supporting encryption laws Carve out In the case of decentralized financial protocols, industry proponents now warn that the successful prosecution of numbers could cause serious harm to Defi’s operating principles.

When you reach Decryption And now, based on his ongoing prosecution, he asks if he recognizes the Trump administration as hostile to defi, Storm mentions recent legal Submit In an ongoing appeal against Alexei’s Pertef’s conviction in the Netherlands, it was created by the industry lobbying group, the Defi Education Fund.

“Should we remove everything from the markets that criminals are known to use for illegal activities?” the filing reads. “(s)oftware developers should not be criminally liable for the actions of third parties that commit crimes using the software.”

Edited by James Rubin