Today, on the second day of the tornado cash trial, the prosecutors and defense provided the case defendants with an opposite account in their opening statement about why the Roman storm started tornado cash.

These statements came after the ju apprentice selection process was completed.

The judges consist of seven women and five men. The two members of the ju apprentice are four in their 60s and 40s, one in their 30s and five in their 20s. Eight have bachelor’s degrees, three have high school degrees, and one has a master’s degree.

The ju judge stood up shortly after 2pm EST, just before both the prosecutors and the defense issued their opening statement.

An opening statement from the prosecutor

The prosecutor first submitted his opening statement.

From the prosecutor’s team, Mosley faced a ju-degree trooper and was plagued by the notion that Storm created tornado cash with the main motivation to enrich himself.

Mosley said hundreds of millions of dollars worth of codes have been poured through tornado cash, and the storm and his co-conspirators Roma Semenov and Alexei Pertsev chose not to do so, although tornado cash is not appealing to criminals.

He also cited how tornado cash promoted sanctions violations as North Korean hackers used the service to wash their crypto funds.

He admixed funds stolen from hacks in the online crypto game Axie Infinitiy by North Korean hackers using tornado cache, and Storm’s Thas and and and and tornado crinado crinado craws on tornado crinado craws on tornado washing washing washing washal (defense admitted in its opening statement that Storm was wearing such a T-shirt in “bad taste.”

Mosley also said the evidence also shows that the tornado cash Storm and his co-conspirators intentionally operated a code “washing machine” to wash funds for bad actors, and that he was unable to design the tornado cash when he allegedly failed to make changes to the tornado cash design.

“He chose to wash his money multiple times,” said Mosley of Storm.

Mosley added that Storm attempted to “hidden his actions” by using his account to “cash out” his multi-million dollar songs. (No details are provided as to whether this is a bank or crypto exchange account.)

Finally, Mosley said the evidence in the incident included encrypted chats about the tornado cash business. Defendant’s communication with Crypto Hacks victims, funds flowing through Tornado’s cash. A document showing that Storm used cash out in August 2022 using another person’s account.

Opening statement from Defense

Axel, a member of the defense team, spoke to the ju umpire after Mosley.

She began by painting Storm as a hardworking immigrant who likes computer programming, adding that he works for many reputable high-tech companies, including Amazon.

She said Storm created tornado cash to resolve financial privacy issues when trading on public blockchains, claiming that he had none of the bad actors who used the service.

“Roman had nothing to do with the hacking or fraud that the government was talking about,” Axel said. “Bad actors misused tornado cash to cover their trucks.”

Axel also shared that it was a conversation with Ethereum creator Vitak Buterin (the blockchain on which tornado cash is being deployed), which prompted him to create tornado cash.

She spoke about how Storm met Butarin at the meeting and asked him what would be an important project to work on for Ethereum. Axel said Butarin told Storm that transaction privacy is an important issue to be resolved. Storm soon began developing tornado cash.

Axel then walked through the Juju jury through a series of illustrations explaining how Ethereum works and how tornado cash anonymizes transactions on the network.

(The defense has distilled this information well, but I think it’s still a bit confusing to the ju-decides.

Axel stressed the fact that Tornado cash doesn’t charge a fee for services, but that was able to do so.

She added that the first tornado cash test pool was launched in the way that Baterin herself participated in the “unreliable ceremony” in May 2020.

She also said that once Tornado’s cash mixing pool is launched, Storm and his co-founder will burn the keys, leaving developers unable to control what happened within the pool.

“The government’s case is about the Romans that should stop hackers from using pools,” Axel said. “But he couldn’t do this.”

Axel concluded her opening statement by saying tornado cash was merely a tool used by both bad and good people.

First Witness

Following the conclusion of the opening statement, the prosecutor called on the first witness, Mr. Lin, to the stand.

Lynn convinced the scammer to contact her via WhatsApp, detailing another messaging app, scenario, and opening a Crypto.com account and depositing a total of more than $200,000.

The scammer walked through Lin the process of purchasing a “crypto” as Lin said, then transferred the code to a shell company called NTU Capital.

The witness was rejected before either her or the prosecutor concluded the story, but given the purpose of the trial, it may be assumed that the funds were stolen from Ms. Lynn and cannot be tracked through tornado cash. (To be clear, the second half of the previous sentence is speculation.)

Tomorrow’s schedule

The trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow at 9am.

Prosecutors informed the judge that they plan to bring at least three witnesses to the stands tomorrow.

Rostec, the Russian defense and technology conglomerate, announced on July 3 that it will introduce a ruble-pegged stablecoin and a linked payment network this year, utilizing Tron infrastructure.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Rostec named the token RUBx and set a one-to-one exchange rate with the ruble. 

Deputy General Director Alexander Nazarov stated that the corporation will manage the asset through an in-house platform called RT-Pay. The report also said that each coin carries a legal claim to an equivalent amount of currency, providing companies and individuals with a means to transfer rubles on public rails while meeting domestic compliance requirements.

Engineers have built RUBx on the Tron blockchain and plan to publish the smart contract code on GitHub. Project head Dmitry Shumayev also revealed that CertiK will audit the contract before launch. 

Rostec stated that RT-Pay will integrate with existing bank systems, facilitating straight-through settlement, interactions with external wallets, and the execution of smart contracts. 

The firm cited complete alignment with the Russian Central Bank’s guidelines, anti-money laundering statutes, and counter-terrorist finance measures.

Shumayev outlined a phased rollout that surveys demand across sectors, with later stages expected to support additional financial services. Rostec framed the approach as an extension of its mandate to develop strategic technology inside Russia’s borders.

Russian state dives into crypto

The stablecoin plan follows another state-backed move into blockchain finance. Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, sold structured bonds on May 30 that tie returns to Bitcoin’s dollar performance and the dollar-ruble exchange rate. 

The bank said at its launch that the over-the-counter product settles in rubles and targets qualified investors who want crypto-linked exposure without the need for offshore wallets.

Rostec’s entry focuses on payments rather than market exposure, but both initiatives signal that large Russian institutions continue to integrate digital asset functions within local legal frameworks. 

Each entity controls its own distribution and compliance stack, reducing reliance on foreign exchanges while meeting internal audit requirements.

Rostec has not shared issuance caps or reserve management details for RUBx, although executives stated that the corporation will hold rubles equal to the total number of tokens in circulation. 

The company intends to disclose code and audit reports before activation, which will provide external developers and regulators with a clear view of the contract logic.

Mentioned in this article

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is donating more than a million dollars to help Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev with his legal defense. The contribution follows the developer’s supervised release to prepare to appeal his money laundering conviction in the Netherlands.

Ethereum Foundation Aids Alexey Pertsev’s Defense

On Wednesday, the Ethereum Foundation announced its $1.25 million donation to Alexey Pertsev’s legal defense. In an X post, the Foundation shared their contribution to the Tornado Cash developer, affirming that “privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.”

EF pledges $1.25 million to support Tornado Cash's developer. Source: Ethereum Foundation on x

In August 2022, The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash for “failing to impose effective controls” that prevented malicious actors from laundering funds using the protocol.

The US Treasury Department argued that the decentralized protocol was used to launder over $7 billion since 2019, including $455 million linked to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group.

Following the sanctions, Pertsev was detained in the Netherlands and charged with money laundering for allegedly helping enable the laundering of $1.2 billion between the introduction of Tornado Cash in December 2019 and August 2022.

In May 2024, the developer was found guilty of money laundering by the s-Hertogenbosch Court of Appeal and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. However, he recently received a supervised release to work on his upcoming appeal.

As reported by Bitcoinist, Pertsev’s legal team submitted an appeal against the court’s ruling after his conviction, leading to his supervised release to prepare for the appeal out of prison.

In an X post, the developer announced his February 7 release, explaining that the court suspended his pretrial detention under the condition of electronic monitoring. He added that his release was not “real freedom” but was “better than prison.”

Fight For Privacy Tools Continues

Pertsev thanked the Ethereum Foundation’s contribution to his defense, expressing gratitude and relief for the donation as he can “now completely focus on preparing my appeal.”

Ethereum’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, also responded to the EF’s post, sharing the same message as the Foundation. Buterin has advocated for privacy on different occasions, using protocols like Railgun and stating, “Privacy is normal, and writing code is not a crime.”

Recently, he called for the release of Pertsev and Tornado Cash’s co-founder, Roman Storm, who was also detained in 2022 and awaits his April 14 trial. The Ethereum founder stated that “no man should be left behind” after US President Donald Trump granted the full pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.

The Ethereum Foundation’s move follows Paradigm’s recent donation to Tornado Cash’s co-founder. The crypto firm contributed $1.25 million to Storm’s legal defense on January 28, arguing that “the prosecution’s case threatens to hold software developers criminally liable for the bad acts of third parties, which would have a chilling effect in crypto and beyond.”

It’s worth noting that crypto privacy received a partial victory a month ago when the US District Court for the Western District of Texas reversed the OFAC sanctions against Tornado Cash following its November ruling.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that OFAC had “overstepped its congressionally defined authority” by sanctioning the crypto mixing protocol. The court concluded that Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts can’t be classified as “property” under federal law, placing them outside the reach of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

Ethereum (ETH) trades at $2,391 in the one-week chart. Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView

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