EFF Files Amicus Brief in Support of Tornado Cash Developer Roman Storm

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a prominent digital rights group, has filed an amicus brief in support of Roman Storm

A prominent digital rights group has filed an amicus brief in support of Roman Storm, a developer of the crypto privacy protocol Tornado Cash (TORN), who has been charged in relation to his work on the protocol.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed the brief on March 23, arguing that Storm’s prosecution raises “larger civil liberties concerns that could chill the future development of privacy-enhancing technologies more broadly.”

Storm has been charged with conspiracy to facilitate money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions over his involvement in Tornado Cash, which allows users to conceal their crypto transactions.

The EFF argues that the core issue in the case is the government's attempt to hold developers responsible for how their tools are used, rather than prosecuting the bad actors directly, which could have a chilling effect on privacy-focused software development.

“Nearly all privacy and anonymity protective software tools are dual-use tools. Like a physical mask or paper cash, they provide needed, often critical protections for users, but can also be used by bad actors to help hide their crimes,” the EFF wrote in the brief.

“But the government’s prosecution theory here would criminalize the developers of any dual-use technology for the bad acts of others if the developers knew or should have known that people were using (or might use) their technology for those bad acts.”

In the prosecution of Storm, the government is also relying on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows the U.S. president to impose economic sanctions and restrict transactions during national emergencies.

However, the EFF argues that this application of IEEPA is inappropriate, as it is being used to criminalize conduct that does not directly violate any sanctions regulations.

“If the government believes it is appropriate to criminalize these technologies, it must seek relief from Congress and not rely on IEEPA and the other laws deployed in this prosecution, or, worse, attempt to bootstrap ancillary activities even further removed from any criminal acts into the ambit of these laws,” the EFF wrote.

“Congress has the authority to pass a law that clearly distinguishes legal from illegal use of these technologies, if it wants to regulate them, but the prosecution in this case fails to provide that clarity.”

The TORN token has seen a significant rise in the last month, up nearly 50%, on optimism of a favorable outcome for Storm, according to market data from Messari.

Storm is due back in court on April 25 for a hearing on several motions, including a motion to dismiss the indictment.