'How Many Gajillion Expert Witnesses?': Tornado Cash Crypto Laundering Case Set to Kick Off

Litigation attorney and former federal prosecutor Peter Hardy was quoted in a recent Law.com article about the trial of Roman Storm, founder of the cryptocurrency Tornado Cash. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Tornado Cash under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in late 2022, citing national security threats – only to recently lift those sanctions in light of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Federal prosecutors allege Storm conspired to launder money and evade U.S. sanctions through the cryptocurrency. Mr. Hardy weighed in on what he believes the case could mean for the wider decentralized finance (DeFi) industry.

"I would not regard a conviction here, depending upon the government’s proofs, as the so-called Death of DeFi, because I am assuming that most folks on both sides of the aisle would agree that my right to privacy does not include the right to anonymously launder money or commit sanctions violations," he said.

Mr. Hardy went on to discuss the complexity of the case, including the use of expert witnesses by the prosecution and defense.

"The kind of notion amongst prosecutors is that if you need a true expert witness for your case, that’s already a sign that you have a tough row to hoe. The defense likes to bring in experts, but often the government does not, and here the government has a fair amount of experts, given the complexity of its case."

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