The US Department of Justice is considering filing a lawsuit against Dragonfly, accusing it of investing in the Tornado Cash team in 2020. Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner of Dragonfly Capital, tweeted that Dragonfly invested in PepperSec, Inc., the developer of Tornado Cash, in August 2020. The reason why it made this investment is because it firmly believes in the importance of open source privacy protection technology. Prior to investment, external legal advice has been obtained confirming that the construction of Tornado Cash complies with legal regulations and adheres to FinCEN's guidelines released in 2019. Dragonfly does not operate or control Tornado Cash, nor has it contacted any malicious users. It always encourages portfolio companies to comply with the law and insists that Tornado Cash itself has a legitimate right to exist. It would be unprecedented to bring charges against a venture capital firm for alleged misconduct by a portfolio company, especially in the current situation.
In 2023, Dragonfly received a subpoena from the US Department of Justice and fully cooperated with the government's investigation into Tornado Cash. The Ministry of Justice has made it clear that Dragonfly itself is not the subject of its investigation. Like all investments, Dragonfly provides advice and support to PepperSec, as well as to all portfolio companies. Dragonfly believes that the government's statement in court is mainly aimed at weakening Tornado Cash's defense - making it more difficult for the defense to summon Tom to testify in court. Dragonfly does not believe that the Department of Justice would actually make such absurd and unfounded accusations. But if they really do that, Dragonfly plans to fully defend himself.
Previously, it was reported that the US Department of Justice may file Tornado Cash related charges against Dragonfly employees.
