Tornado Cash Dev Says DOJ’s Debanking Scheme Is Just Another Gummint Dirty Trick

by

Now this Roman Storm fella, who might still be staring down a retrial in that whole Tornado Cash ruckus, had some sharp words for Lead Bank CEO Jackie Reses, who had the gall to call debanking a “crock of shit.” Storm set her straight right quick: that debanking business is as real as a summer thunderstorm in Missouri, and he’s lived through it more times than he can count, ever since the DOJ came snooping around with their subpoenas and scared his banks straight into locking his accounts.

  • Key Takeaways, for those of you who don’t want to wade through the whole mess:

  • Roman Storm is out here accusing the DOJ of pulling a debanking stunt right smack in the middle of his trial, and he’s making a fine case for why crypto’s got more use than a pocket watch in a gold rush.
  • When GoFundMe decided to play refund cop and yank his donations without so much as a by-your-leave, Storm turned to crypto to keep his legal defense afloat, like a man who knows better than to trust a banker’s promise.
  • Now he’s staring down a second trial for money laundering, and he’s already counting on crypto donations to keep him from ending up in the poorhouse while he fights the gummint.

Tornado Cash Dev Roman Storm: “I’ve Been Debanked. More Times Than I Can Count, Too.”

Roman Storm, the fellow who built that Ethereum mixing thing called Tornado Cash, convicted of conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmitting business, is out here waving a red flag at the Department of Justice, claiming they’re using debanking like a cheap trick out of a shyster lawyer’s playbook to make his prosecution easier.

Storm took to the social media wires to call out Jackie Reses, the co-founder and head honcho of Lead Bank, who had the unmitigated gall to call debanking an “absolute crock of shit.”

“There’s 5,000 banks in these United States, and we’ve got more red states than a barn in Iowa has nails. You’re telling me that in all those red states, even the one where my company’s based out of Kansas City, Missouri, those banks wouldn’t touch conservative companies with a ten-foot pole?” she ranted on the Sourcery podcast.

Storm was back on the social media wires before you could say “snake oil salesman” to shoot Reses’ claims full of holes, saying he’d been debanked more times than a traveling preacher at a saloon, all because the banks got a peek at DOJ subpoenas and dropped him like a hot potato the second they did.

“Any poor soul who’s had the misfortune of going up against the DOJ in court figures this trick out faster than a kid learns not to touch a hot stove: the second the DOJ comes storming into your bank accounts with their subpoenas, your bank slams the door in your face so fast it leaves a draft. It’s one of their favorite little tricks to tie your hands behind your back before the fight even starts – makes it twice as hard to pay your lawyers, keep track of your case, and keep from ending up out on the street with nothing but the clothes on your back,” Storm said, not that he was mincing words any.

On top of that, Storm was quick to point out what a godsend cryptocurrency was when it came to keeping his legal defense running, after GoFundMe decided to play the mysterious refund game and yank all his donated cash without so much as a note explaining why. “Crypto let me crowdfund the money I needed to fight this case. Without it, I wouldn’t have stood a chance in court. I don’t know how I’d still be fighting this thing if crypto hadn’t come along when it did,” he said, and you could tell he meant every word of it.

He wrapped up by warning folks he might still be looking at a second trial for conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to break U.S. sanctions rules, and he’s already counting on crypto donations to keep his head above water through whatever comes next. “We might have to go through a second trial. We might end up fighting appeals for years. There’s no telling what’s down the road, and every single step of it’s gonna cost a pretty penny,” he said, not that he sounded like he was ready to give up the fight any time soon.

Read More

2026-05-31 10:57