Tornado Cash
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Tornado Cash is an open-source, non-custodial cryptocurrency mixing protocol on Ethereum, launched in 2019, that obscures the on-chain link between deposit and withdrawal addresses. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the protocol in August 2022 over its alleged use by the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group and other illicit actors to launder billions of dollars; those sanctions were struck down by the Fifth Circuit in November 2024 and formally lifted by OFAC in March 2025. Separately, co-founder Alexey Pertsev was convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands in 2024 (appeal pending), and co-founder Roman Storm was convicted in August 2025 of one count of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business while a New York jury deadlocked on more serious money-laundering and sanctions-violation charges that remain unresolved pending post-trial motions and a possible retrial.
Connected Entities
1 entities- + 18 more
Timeline(13 events)
17 December 2019
Tornado Cash protocol released.
Wikipedia / secondary reporting on Tornado Cash launch8 August 2022
OFAC designates Tornado Cash and associated Ethereum addresses on the SDN List, citing over $7 billion laundered since 2019 and $455 million laundered by the Lazarus Group.
U.S. Treasury press release jy0916August 2022
Alexey Pertsev arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of money laundering.
CoinDesk / Axios reporting on Pertsev case17 August 2023
Western District of Texas grants summary judgment to Treasury, upholding the Tornado Cash sanctions in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury.
Decrypt / legal reporting on Van Loon district court ruling23 August 2023
DOJ unseals indictment against Roman Storm and Roman Semenov for money laundering conspiracy, sanctions violations conspiracy, and unlicensed money transmitting; Storm arrested in Washington state; Semenov designated by OFAC.
CNN Business / DOJ14 May 2024
Dutch court convicts Alexey Pertsev of money laundering and sentences him to 64 months (5 years, 4 months) in prison.
CoinDesk26 November 2024
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the district court in Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, holding Tornado Cash's immutable smart contracts are not "property" under IEEPA.
Van Loon v. Department of the Treasury, 5th Cir. opinion7 February 2025
Dutch court suspends Alexey Pertsev's pretrial detention pending appeal; he is released under electronic monitoring.
The Daily Hodl21 March 2025
OFAC formally delists Tornado Cash and associated addresses from the SDN List, ending U.S. sanctions on the protocol (Semenov individually remains sanctioned).
U.S. Treasury / CoinDesk6 August 2025
New York jury convicts Roman Storm of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business; deadlocks on money-laundering and sanctions-violation conspiracy counts, resulting in a partial mistrial.
CoinDeskApril 2026
Court of Appeal of 's-Hertogenbosch reportedly orders Alexey Pertsev to remain in detention pending his appeal of the 2024 money-laundering conviction.
Secondary reporting on Pertsev appeal status9 April 2026
Oral argument held on Roman Storm's Rule 29 motion for acquittal on his sole conviction; ruling remains pending.
The DefiantAugust 2026
Reporting indicates Roman Storm's retrial on the deadlocked money-laundering and sanctions counts has been pushed back to April 26, 2027, pending resolution of his acquittal motion.
The BlockResearch Gaps
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Decision Log
- hash: 5SGoxPArXDNiu5dHpt535wJehLQQHtiTyTPghD5jH4Cd
- hash: 7gUu5EJm7nUqoYQ7gci4urXbnf4qk3ciTikJkCnVr9xQ
- hash: AXS4fTYumXKzZkMBZCfWYBEzEQuR5GycawuXSBe8Vu4V
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (3 events). 37 of 39 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/4/2026, 4:05:05 PM
last updated: 9/15/2026, 7:04:32 PM
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