After about two weeks of hearing from US government witnesses, Roman Storm’s legal team called Preston Van Loon to the stand to kick off its defense case.
Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm rested their case on Thursday, opening the door for defense counsel to call an Ethereum core developer as its first witness.
According to reporting by Inner City Press on Thursday from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon testified in Storm’s defense case, which is expected to last about a week. The developer reportedly described Tornado Cash as a “privacy tool for Ethereum” and said he had used the mixing service four times to send a combined 43 Ether (ETH) in 2019 or 2020, citing safety concerns.
“If [hackers] know the scope of my assets I can become a target,” said Van Loon, according to reporting from the courtroom.
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