The Blockchain Association, a well-known crypto advocacy group, is standing in solidarity with the two developers behind Tornado Cash, a mixing service, as they face legal challenges from the United States.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, the founders of Tornado Cash, with assisting the North Korean hacking group Lazarus in laundering illegal funds through their mixing service.
Recently, Storm’s lawyers pushed for the case to be dropped, arguing that the developers merely created decentralized software solutions to provide financial privacy to legitimate cryptocurrency users, which is not technically a crime.
In support of Roman Storm and the government’s prosecution of the two founders, the Blockchain Association has filed an amicus brief in the case.
“The Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief in United States v. Storm today, highlighting a crucial flaw in the government’s prosecution of Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov. The indictment’s portrayal of the government’s money-transmitter charges lacks substance because it fails to provide evidence demonstrating the defendants’ or Tornado Cash’s control over the funds in question.”
An amicus brief is a legal document submitted to an appellate court by a non-involved party in a case. These briefs, written by “friends of the court,” aim to provide additional information or arguments to assist the court in making its decision.
Regarding the case, Marisa Coppel, Head of Legal at the Blockchain Association, stated, “Adopting the government’s legal theory would not only have negative consequences for the digital asset industry but also raise serious concerns about fintech in general. We urge the court to hold the government accountable and dismiss these baseless charges, protecting both the defendants’ rights and the integrity of the growing digital asset sector.”
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