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Dragonfly Capital Dodges DOJ Threat in Tornado Cash Trial
Key Takeaways
- The Department of Justice confirmed Dragonfly Capital and its team are not part of the Tornado Cash probe;
- A July 25 court comment hinted at charges, but prosecutors later walked it back;
- Tom Schmidt declined to testify after not receiving immunity from the Department of Justice.
Haseeb Qureshi, co-founder of Dragonfly Capital, stated that the firm is no longer under possible legal threat from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over its past support of Tornado Cash.
In a July 29 post on X, Qureshi said the DOJ had confirmed in court that media reports suggesting the firm could face charges were incorrect.
He noted that prosecutors confirmed on July 28 that neither Dragonfly nor its team members are part of the current investigation.
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This update came after a federal prosecutor said in court on July 25 that charges against Dragonfly Capital’s Tom Schmidt and others were being considered.
Dragonfly Capital had invested in Tornado Cash’s development team in August 2020. Before investing, Dragonfly hired external legal experts, who confirmed that Tornado Cash appeared to comply with the laws in place at that time.
Roman Storm’s legal team had planned to call Tom Schmidt to testify about the investment and related discussions within Dragonfly.
However, prosecutors declined to offer Schmidt legal protection for his testimony. As a result, he chose not to speak in court by citing his Fifth Amendment rights.
During that same court session, prosecutors made the first public mention that Dragonfly staff could possibly face charges. Qureshi stated that such public speculation is not allowed under DOJ guidelines and was likely intended to discourage Schmidt from testifying.
On July 26, Storm requested another donation to cover his legal expenses. What did he say? Read the full story.