US DOJ Fights Back Against Tornado Cash Founder’s MTD Request

as a crypto investor, I’ve been following the developments regarding Tornado Cash and its co-founder Roman Semenov closely. Recently, Semenov filed a Motion to Dismiss (MTD) the charges of conspiracy and money laundering against him. His legal team argues that he has no basis for these charges since he was only involved in designing the code but not responsible for its use.


The US Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors have countered a request to throw out the charges of conspiracy and money laundering leveled against Roman Semenov, one of the founders of Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash Developer Argues Non-Involvement

By the close of March, Semenov, under arrest and facing several charges linked to his association with Tornado Cash, submitted a motion asking for the dismissal of these accusations. The basis of our legal argument in this Motion to Dismiss lies in the fact that the authorities lack justification for charging him. Semenov further explained that he contributed to the code’s development but cannot be held accountable for its subsequent usage.

The Tornado Cash founders assert that they had transferred control of the platform’s smart contracts prior to any purported illicit activities, which is why they are asking for a Maintenance and Technical Discontinuance (MTD) order.

The DOJ’s 111-page response indicates that Semenov’s request should not be granted based on their argumentation.

The regulatory body delved deeper into the reasons behind requiring Semenov, the Tornado Cash co-founder, to respond to the accusations against him. Notably, the Justice Department’s argument that Semenov significantly contributed to keeping Tornado Cash’s website operational places him in a pivotal position. This is largely due to his involvement in the platform’s on-chain operations.

DOJ Intensifies Case Against Semenov

As a legal analyst, I would rephrase the given text as follows:

Typically, crypto mixers are engineered to ensure transactions remain untraceable for privacy reasons. However, their misuse by nefarious actors to conceal ill-gotten gains became a matter of concern for the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022. Notably, Tornado Cash was identified as a favored tool among these criminals, with the notorious North Korean hacking collective Lazarus Group being one of its primary users.

As a crypto investor following the latest news, I can’t help but be concerned about Semenov’s situation. The outcome of his response to the DOJ’s questioning could significantly impact his future. He stands accused of one count of money laundering conspiracy and another count of conspiring to violate the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, each carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. If he fails to provide a compelling explanation, he may face the consequences and spend the remainder of his days in prison.

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2024-04-27 23:29